Airbnb adds AI search and social trip features
Airbnb has added AI search to its app, letting users find properties with text or voice prompts instead of filters. A toggle switches the search into AI mode, and the interface then suggests dynamic filters based on what the user types. Searching for "baby", for example, brings up options such as cribs, playgrounds, and children's books.
The company is also using AI to surface property details and to compare wish-list listings through summaries and reviews. CEO Brian Chesky said the feature is a first foray into AI search and will be iterated quickly, adding that building AI search is easy but doing so without hurting conversion on a platform handling $100 billion in bookings is the hard part.
Alongside search, Airbnb is expanding the services it launched last year, including meal delivery, laundry, baby-gear rental, and ski and boat rental in selected locations, plus wider grocery delivery. New social features let travellers view a map of their connections' past or upcoming trips, see where those connections stayed and which experiences they booked, with an option to keep trips private. The app is also building neighbourhood pages from guest reviews to help travellers find places to eat and things to do.
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