Airbnb Shares Jump 15% as CEO Cites AI-Driven Growth, Raises Outlook
Airbnb shares rose 15% after quarterly results showed strong growth and an upgraded full-year outlook. CEO Brian Chesky attributed the acceleration to artificial intelligence, noting product development time has fallen 60% and annual feature delivery is up 80%. First-time bookings grew at the fastest pace in four years. The company now spends far more on AI tokens than initially forecast, while headcount stays flat, and 45% of AI-agent customer interactions require no human handoff.
Airbnb shares rose 15% following its quarterly earnings release, marking one of the company's strongest growth quarters in recent years, and prompting an upward revision to its full-year outlook. Chief Executive Brian Chesky said artificial intelligence is the primary factor driving faster growth. He disclosed after the results that the company's spending on AI tokens this year will be significantly higher than originally forecast, because reasoning costs are "insignificant" relative to the revenue and productivity gains they generate. Chesky said Airbnb is cutting product development time by roughly 60% and increasing the number of features shipped on an annual basis by about 80%, all while keeping headcount broadly flat despite a sharp rise in AI expenditure.
The company has hired Ahmad Al-Dahle, former head of generative AI at Meta, as chief technology officer, effective January. AI is already delivering measurable results across multiple areas: it helps drive more bookings, simplifies the listing and pricing process for hosts, and lowers customer service costs. Airbnb is piloting AI-driven search features that generate personalized property highlights and guest responses, and assist hosts in creating and pricing listings. In customer service, 45% of guests who interact with the company's AI agent do not need to be transferred to a human representative.
Internally, Airbnb tracks employee usage of AI. Chesky said the company uses individual token consumption as one adoption metric, but considers it relatively crude and places more emphasis on team output. He noted that productivity gains have been significant, initially benefiting engineers and then spreading to product management, design, marketing, and creative services. Headcount has remained essentially flat, while AI spending has increased substantially.
On model usage, Airbnb runs more than ten AI models internally, including Anthropic's Claude Code and OpenAI's Codex. The company imposes access limits on slower, more expensive models, disabling them when tasks do not require their extra capabilities. Chesky declined to name the open-source models deployed in consumer products, saying the composition of its technology stack has become competitively sensitive.
He argued that travel is highly visual, difficult to compare through text alone, and often requires collaborative planning among multiple people—areas where traditional chat remains weak. Airbnb is now leveraging AI to extend its growth cycle. Data shows that first-time booking growth has hit its fastest pace in four years, and US business accelerated compared with the first quarter. Hotel business is growing at three times the rate of traditional listings, as the company expands beyond its home-rental origins.