Airbnb says AI now creates 60% of new code

This is stated in Airbnb's report on the results for the first quarter of 2026, TechCrunch reports .

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky noted that the company sees AI as particularly useful for building tools for its API partners who manage their properties using third-party software.

“Our API partners say they want to be better hosts and need better tools. AI provides a huge advantage: where you would previously need a team of 20 engineers, one programmer can now run agents that will do a lot of the work under their supervision. Implementing AI tools gives us the resource to build more software for API partners, accelerating work that we previously lacked the resources to do,” said Chesky.

However, Chesky acknowledged the difficulty of fully implementing AI tools in the travel and e-commerce sectors, pointing out the shortcomings of the chatbot user interface.

"I don't think anyone has figured out how to adapt AI for travel or e-commerce yet. Chatbot designs in their current form are not suited to those industries."

According to Airbnb CEO, there are four problems:

• too much text (while most e-commerce sales are based on visuals);
• lack of direct control (you have to type everything in text instead of just moving the sliders);
• the inconvenience of comparison (it is easy to get confused trying to compare thousands of options within one thread of correspondence);
• and that most bookings are collective, while chatbots are focused on a single user and are not integrated with maps natively.”

According to the report, Airbnb's net profit in the first quarter increased by 3.9% to $160 million, while revenue increased by 18% compared to last year and amounted to $2.7 billion. The number of booked nights during this period increased by 9% - to 156.2 million.

The company also noted that its new “Book Now, Pay Later” feature drove nearly 20% of its total booking value (GBV) for the quarter.

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