Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky recently revealed that artificial intelligence played a major role in software development at the company during the first quarter of 2026, with AI generating around 60% of the code produced by its engineers. Speaking during Airbnb’s Q1 2026 earnings call, Chesky said the company is increasingly using AI tools for coding, customer support, and search. These remarks place Airbnb alongside companies such as Google, Microsoft, and Spotify, which have also discussed using AI to accelerate programming and software development.
AI Boosts Development for API Partners
Chesky highlighted that AI has been especially useful for building tools for Airbnb’s API partners, who manage properties using different software systems. “API partners say they want to be better hosts and need better tools. 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,” Chesky said. He added, “Adopting AI tools gives us leverage to build more software for API partners, accelerating work we previously did not have resources for.”
AI Bot Handles 40% of Customer Support Issues
During the earnings call, the company also revealed that it has expanded the use of AI in customer support over the past year. According to Chesky, the company’s AI-powered support bot now handles 40% of customer issues without needing a human agent. Earlier this year, that figure was around 33%. The company has also been testing AI-powered search features, although Chesky noted that the travel industry still faces challenges when it comes to using chatbot-based AI tools. “I do not think anyone has figured out AI for travel or e-commerce yet,” Chesky said. He added that current chatbot designs have several limitations for travel and shopping platforms, including “too much text,” “poor comparison” between options, and the fact that bookings often involve multiple people while chatbots are “primarily single-player.”
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