Airbnb Says AI Cuts Feature Development Time by 60% as It Tests AI Search

Airbnb says artificial intelligence is helping it build and launch product features significantly faster, while the company prepares to test a new AI-powered search experience for customers.

During Airbnb’s second-quarter earnings call, co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky said AI has reduced the time required to take features from concept to launch by as much as 60%. He also said the company has shipped nearly 80% more features and improvements this year compared with the same period last year.

“Today, we’re building, testing, and iterating faster than we could just a year ago,” Chesky said.

Airbnb has been using AI across areas including search, sign-up, checkout and payments. The technology is also helping the company improve tools for hosts, including faster onboarding.

Earlier this year, Airbnb said AI was writing about 60% of its code, highlighting how quickly the company has incorporated the technology into its internal product development process.

Airbnb prepares AI search test

While Airbnb has moved quickly to use AI internally, its consumer-facing AI rollout has been more cautious. The company has introduced features such as review summaries and listing highlights but has avoided simply adding a chatbot to its app.

Chesky has previously argued that a conventional chatbot interface is not necessarily the best way to use AI for travel. Instead, Airbnb has focused on applying AI to search, discovery and customer support.

The company will now begin testing AI-powered search. Airbnb does not plan to force the new experience on users who prefer its existing search and filtering tools. Instead, customers will be able to switch to AI search through a dedicated toggle.

The new search experience will allow users to describe what they are looking for using natural language. Results will be presented in a more visual format, with AI-generated titles and personalised listing highlights.

“The titles [in the answer] could actually be AI-generated, and they can be conversational as if you’re reading a chatbot, but more visual,” Chesky said.

Airbnb also plans to generate listing highlights dynamically based on individual users and their searches.

AI reduces customer support costs

Customer support is another area where Airbnb has made extensive use of AI.

The company launched an AI-powered support agent in North America in 2025 and has since expanded it to more than 50 languages. Airbnb also plans to make the system available for voice calls later this year.

Nearly 45% of customer issues that begin with the AI agent are now resolved without human intervention, according to the company.

That automation has helped reduce Airbnb’s customer support cost per booking by 16% year over year.

The AI push comes as Airbnb reports strong financial results. Revenue for the quarter ended in June increased 17% year over year to $3.6 billion, while adjusted EBITDA rose 21% to $1.3 billion.