Airbnb said artificial intelligence tools generated 60% of the code written by its engineers during the first quarter of 2026, as the company expanded its use of AI across software development, customer support, and search functions.
The company discussed its AI efforts extensively during its quarterly earnings call, joining other major technology firms including Google, Microsoft, and Spotify that have recently reported growing use of AI-assisted programming tools.
Brian Chesky said Airbnb has found AI particularly useful for building tools aimed at API partners that manage properties through third-party software systems.
“API partners say they want to be better hosts and need better tools,” Chesky said during the earnings call.
“AI gives huge leverage — where you might have needed a team of 20 engineers before, an engineer can now spin up agents to do a lot of work under supervision,” he added.
Chesky said the company is using AI tools to accelerate software projects that Airbnb previously lacked the resources to complete.
Customer Support Automation Expands
Airbnb also said it has steadily increased its use of AI for customer support operations over the past year.
According to Chesky, the company’s AI-powered customer support bot now resolves 40% of customer issues without transferring users to human support agents.
That figure increased from roughly 33% earlier this year.
The company has also been testing AI systems within its search tools, though Chesky said significant limitations remain for AI-driven interfaces in travel and e-commerce environments.
Chesky Points To Weaknesses In AI Chatbots
Chesky said current chatbot-style interfaces are not well suited for travel booking platforms.
“I do not think anyone has figured out AI for travel or e-commerce yet,” he said.
He identified several limitations, including the amount of text involved in chatbot interactions, the lack of visual-first navigation, difficulty comparing large numbers of options, and challenges supporting group decision-making.
Chesky also noted that travel bookings are often collaborative decisions involving multiple people, while most AI chat systems are currently designed for individual use.
He added that existing chatbot interfaces are not optimized for map-based interactions commonly used in travel planning.
Revenue And Bookings Continue To Grow
Alongside its AI updates, Airbnb reported first-quarter financial results showing continued growth across revenue and bookings.
The company said net income rose 3.9% year over year to $160 million.
Revenue increased 18% to $2.7 billion compared with the same period last year.
Airbnb also reported that nights and experiences booked increased 9% to 156.2 million during the quarter.
The company said its “Reserve now, pay later” feature accounted for nearly 20% of gross booking value during the period.
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