Airbnb offers rentals of homes, apartments, rooms, and other properties worldwide by connecting travelers with local hosts through its website and app.
Airbnb offers rentals of homes, apartments, rooms, and other properties worldwide by connecting travelers with local hosts through its website and app. For years, the company relied on human agents to handle customer support, including calls from guests stranded outside their accommodations or dealing with last-minute cancellations. However, this is now changing. Specially trained AI agents currently handle approximately one-third of customer support interactions in North America. The company is considering expanding this system globally, a move that could potentially threaten human jobs. Airbnb believes that machines can perform these tasks at scale, faster and at a lower cost than human agents.
Airbnb shared this information during its fourth-quarter earnings announcement. CEO Brian Chesky told investors that the AI agent is well beyond the testing phase and is currently resolving about 33 percent of customer service issues in North America. The company expects that within a year, more than 30 percent of support tickets worldwide will be handled by its AI voice and chat tools in all languages where Airbnb currently operates with human agents.
Chesky stated, “We believe this will be a game-changer, as it will reduce Airbnb’s customer service costs while improving service quality.”
Airbnb says customer support is a major expense and difficult to scale—especially during fluctuations in travel demand. The company believes its software can handle a wide range of interactions without users feeling as though they are speaking to a machine. CEO Brian Chesky emphasized that speed and consistency are crucial for routine issues such as bookings, modifications, refunds, and general inquiries, often more important than having a human voice.
AI agents are not affected by holiday surges, do not require shift rotations, and can operate instantly in multiple languages. Airbnb has not disclosed the exact impact on staffing. However, by achieving lower costs alongside improved efficiency, the company may no longer need to expand its customer support workforce.
Brian Chesky said that Airbnb aims to build an app that deeply understands its users—helping guests plan trips, assisting hosts in managing their listings, and enabling the company to operate more efficiently as it grows. However, he noted that AI chatbots cannot replace Airbnb’s broader ecosystem, which includes verified identities, millions of reviews, and direct communication between guests and hosts.
