Airbnb CEO: Our self-developed AI agent relies heavily on Alibaba's Qwen model, which is faster and cheaper than OpenAI.

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Companies’ selection of AI models is shifting from technological leadership to cost-effectiveness considerations. Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky stated that the company’s AI customer service agent largely uses Alibaba Group’s Qwen model because it is faster and cheaper.

On Tuesday local time, Chesky revealed in a media interview that Airbnb’s AI agent is built on 13 different AI models, including those from OpenAI, Alibaba, Google, and open-source providers. Although the company uses OpenAI’s latest model, its use frequency in production is not high:

We rely heavily on Alibaba’s Qwen model. It is very good, fast, and cost-effective.

We use OpenAI’s latest model, but it is generally not used extensively in production because there are faster and cheaper models.

Airbnb’s AI customer service agent was launched to all U.S. English users this May, and it has now been upgraded to display operation buttons and links to assist users with actions such as changing or canceling bookings, without the need for human intervention.

This technical choice has already brought significant results. On Tuesday, Airbnb announced that the upgraded AI customer service tool has reduced the number of users needing human customer service by 15%, and the average problem resolution time dropped from nearly three hours to six seconds.

Postponing ChatGPT Integration Plans

Chesky also stated that there are currently no plans to integrate Airbnb’s app into ChatGPT, as the latter’s connection tool is “not fully ready yet”. This stands in contrast to the strategies of competitors Booking Holdings and Expedia Group.

Although Chesky and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman are close friends, and he has previously advised OpenAI on new features for third-party developers to integrate apps into the ChatGPT bot, Airbnb did not appear in the list of first available apps released earlier this month.

Chesky explained that because Airbnb is a community of verified members, OpenAI needs to build a sufficiently robust platform so that Airbnb’s app can operate in ChatGPT almost independently. He said the company will monitor the development of ChatGPT app integration and may consider partnerships similar to competitors in the future.

Betting on Social Feature Differentiation

On Tuesday, Airbnb also announced new social features to encourage user connections and ultimately provide better travel recommendations within the app.

The company has launched an option allowing guests to share their Airbnb profiles with other travelers after booking an experience. Users who have participated in the same travel program can now send messages directly to each other, but with privacy protections—conversations continue only after the recipient accepts the message request.

Chesky said that more social features will be launched next year. In the long term, these features may facilitate user-generated content within the app, enabling people to find travel inspiration without leaving the Airbnb website.

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