Airbnb Is Growing Faster Than Rivals as AI Speeds Up Product Releases

Skift Take As Brian Chesky tells it, AI seems to be really kicking in at Airbnb. Excluding the LLMs and hyper-scalers, he argues that Airbnb went from being a middle-of-the-pack AI company to "a leader in AI." Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky said artificial intelligence is helping the company build and ship products dramatically faster, citing how it took up to nine months to develop the company's groceries business, but just six weeks to roll out airport pickups. Chesky is trying to transform Airbnb into an AI-native company. Even as it launches new business lines — including hotels, experiences, and services — the core business of renting out rooms is accelerating: nights and seats booked grew 10% in the second quarter, outpacing room-night growth at both Expedia Group (6%) and Booking Holdings (5%). The company's second-quarter sha