Airbnb says AI helpers are booking almost no stays so far

Airbnb's CEO says AI helpers that can book trips for you are sending the company almost no business. On Airbnb's third quarter earnings call Thursday, Brian Chesky said the company gets nearly half a million bookings a day. He called the number coming from agents like Meta's Muse or Instinct "very non-material," which means too small to matter.

What an AI agent is

An AI agent is a program that does tasks for you, such as booking a table or scheduling an appointment, instead of only answering questions. Instinct's invite-only agent went viral in Silicon Valley this summer. Meta launched its own version, called Muse, around the same time. Some people worried these tools could hurt travel companies that rely on direct bookings and customer loyalty.

What the numbers show

Chesky said traffic from agents peaked in early October and has not grown since. "We're not seeing a lot of traffic, and even fewer bookings, from Muse and Instinct yet," he said. Other companies report a similar picture:

• Booking.com and Expedia executives said this week that agents had brought very little traffic.
• DoorDash CEO Tony Xu said last week that third-party agents generated "several hundred orders in total."

Why people still browse themselves

Chesky said today's agents are good at simple, routine jobs. Planning a trip is different, he argued, because "travel is aspirational" and choosing where to go is part of the fun. He said 80% of travelers enjoy planning, and they want to look at photos, compare homes and decide with the people they travel with.

• 90% of guests message the host.
• Users typically look at a dozen listings.
• They often swipe through 25 photos per listing.
• Most traffic arrives from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., when people are supposed to be working.

What Airbnb plans next

Chesky said he does not see agents as a threat. He compares them to Google, a way for more people to discover Airbnb, and expects them to be a good handoff to the company. He also expects people to turn to specialized agents rather than one agent for everything. Airbnb plans to start rolling out its own travel-only agent in the first half of next year, aimed at giving guests a custom experience.

The business itself is doing well. Airbnb beat Wall Street estimates and reported revenue up 19% from a year earlier. The company said that was its fastest growth in three years.

What is not known yet

The numbers describe the present, and they come from company executives. Nothing in the report says how agent traffic will change later. Few details were given on how Airbnb's own agent will work beyond being built for travel.