Airbnb Expands AI Customer Support Across North America And Plans Global Rollout

Airbnb says a growing share of its customer support work is now being handled by artificial intelligence, with early results coming from its operations in the United States and Canada. The company reports that roughly one third of support issues in those markets are already being resolved by its custom-built AI agent.

The shift was outlined by chief executive Brian Chesky during the company’s latest earnings call, where he described the system as both a cost-saving measure and a change in how service quality is delivered. He suggested the AI tools could improve how quickly and effectively some customer problems are solved, a notable claim at a time when many companies are still testing how far automation can go in service roles.

Airbnb’s internal plans go beyond customer support. The company is preparing a broader push toward what it calls an AI-native experience, one that could reshape how guests plan trips and how hosts manage their listings. Chesky said the goal is to build an app that understands user preferences rather than simply responding to searches.

That direction has been reinforced by the hiring of Ahmad Al-Dahle as chief technology officer. Al-Dahle previously led generative AI work at Meta and spent years at Apple, experience that Airbnb leadership says will help bridge technical scale with user-focused design.

Executives argue that Airbnb’s long-built ecosystem gives it an advantage over standalone chatbots. Chesky pointed to the company’s verified user base, its large archive of reviews, and the direct communication between guests and hosts as assets that outside AI tools cannot replicate.

Financially, Airbnb reported fourth-quarter revenue of 2.78 billion dollars, slightly above expectations, and projected low double-digit growth for the year ahead. The company expects its next quarter to bring in between 2.59 and 2.63 billion dollars.

At the same time, questions remain about the long-term impact of AI on the travel platform market. Chesky dismissed concerns that external AI tools could displace Airbnb’s role, arguing that the company’s infrastructure, payment handling, and user protections are not easily reproduced.

Inside Airbnb, the adoption of AI is already widespread. The company says 80 percent of its engineers are using AI tools, with a target of reaching full adoption in the near future.

The company is also experimenting with conversational search powered by AI for a small portion of its traffic, with plans to refine that experience and introduce sponsored listings later on.

For now, the rollout of AI customer support marks one of Airbnb’s most visible steps toward automation, as it tests whether technology can handle the demands of a global service platform without losing the human touch many travelers still expect.