Airbnb says it’s launching an AI travel agent in the first half of 2027

Chesky today reiterated that belief, telling analysts on the earnings call that people won’t use one AI agent for everything.

“Today’s AI agents like Muse and Instinct are good at simple routine tasks like making a restaurant reservation or scheduling an appointment. But planning a trip is different,” he said. “Travel is aspirational. Discovering where to go and where to stay is part of the experience. In fact, 80% of travelers say they enjoy spending time researching trips. People want to look at photos. They want to compare homes. They want to make decisions with people they’re traveling with,” he continued. “And I don’t think the general-purpose agents are the best to do that. So that is why we are building our own AI agent,” Chesky said.

Airbnb described its agent as having a personalized interface that’s designed specifically for travel, where it will “build an interface” around a user’s question instead of simply responding as a chatbot would.

“What we are doing is developing a custom-designed AI-native experience that responds to what guests are looking for,” Chesky said. “So instead of relying on traditional chat alone, which is very text-heavy — which, again, is definitely not the way you should plan travel, our agent draws from a library of hundreds of travel-specific interface components — maps, photos, comparisons, calendars, itineraries — and composes them in real time to match what they’re looking for.”

The exec said the agent will feel “a little bit like generative UI” as it’s designed to offer up “the right interface at the right time” for someone’s specific travel needs.

In its shareholder letter, the company touted that its nearly 20 years of experience in bringing hosts and guests together is informing how the agent is built, as it incorporates insights about how people both book and host on its platform. The agent will also be able to help travelers beyond the booking itself.

“Our agent will be able to help guests throughout their trip — from changing a reservation or resolving a payment issue to getting help with refunds, rebooking, or 24-hour safety support. These are things an outside agent can’t easily do on its own,” the company wrote.

While the company previously said to expect its AI agent sometime in the next year, it’s now more specifically committing to roll out the new technology to consumers in the first half of 2027.