Airbnb CEO Defends Slower AI Strategy

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky defended the company's slower, "intentional" approach to building a native AI platform, saying it avoids disintermediation and addressed concerns from rivals' early chatbot launches in 2023–2024. Chesky said Airbnb's AI solves one-third of customer-support issues without live agents and cited the company's 200 million verified identities as a competitive advantage. He urged focus on identity-rich integrated solutions.