Tech

Airbnb CEO Chesky says ChatGPT isn't 'quite robust enough' to integrate into travel app

Key Points
  • Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Wednesday that he wants to integrate ChatGPT artificial intelligence capabilities into the travel platform but the software isn't ready.
  • The comments followed the launch of new social features and a more personalized AI chatbot on Airbnb's app earlier this week.
  • Chesky said it's only the beginning of AI revolution and he expects the technology to fuel a consumer app craze over the next few years.

In this article

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky on new product updates, integrating AI and state of AI tech race
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Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky on new product updates, integrating AI and state of AI tech race

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky said he wants to integrate ChatGPT artificial intelligence capabilities into the travel platform but the software isn't ready.

"The [software development kit] wasn't quite robust enough for the things we want to do," he told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Wednesday.

Chesky said the company would "probably" want to integrate ChatGPT eventually.

Airbnb on Tuesday launched a series of new social features, such as direct messaging, to its platform. The update also included a personalized version of the company's chatbot launched earlier this year that can cancel and change reservations for users in North America.

In an interview with Bloomberg this week, Chesky said that the OpenAI chatbot isn't "quite ready" for integration with Airbnb. He said the model was made using 13 different chatbots and that Airbnb is depending heavily on Alibaba's Qwen model.

Chesky, who is a close friend of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, said it's only the beginning of the AI revolution and he expects the technology to fuel a consumer app craze over the next few years.

"We're all going to have to work together," he said. "AI is going to lift up a lot of companies. If they want to vertically integrate every single thing, that's going to be very, very difficult."

OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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