Airbnb’s AI Future Shapes Up
AirBnB AI features, richest inmate ever, Crypto crackdown, OpenAI AGI and AI agents, Google Antitrust, Amazon cloud profits, FCC fines, CoreWeave, Altruist deals + more...
∆ Tech in the News
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Future of Google - Closing arguments finish in the momentous antitrust trial which could lead to the break-up of Google and other tech giants.
Silver Linings - Amazon reported record Q1 profits on a strong cloud + ads take. Microsoft’s Cloud revenue was up 19%, and Google Cloud was up 28%.
~$200M Fines - The FCC fined leading U.S. mobile carriers, T-Mobile, Sprint, AT&T, and Verizon for illegally selling access to customers' location data.
The Hottest Thing in Tech this Week
Airbnb’s AI Future Shapes Up
AirBnB dropped new features that hint at its AI-driven ‘’ultimate concierge’’ future vision. What does this mean for investors and hosts? The new AirBnB features include new group booking features, a new 'Icons' category, plus new AI features as part of its vision to leverage generative AI to provide users with a more intuitive and personalized product experience.
What’s on offer?
Group bookings now support shared wishlists, detailed trip invitations, and a chat feature for better coordination among travelers. The 'Icons' category offers unique experiences with celebrity or influencer hosts.
11 iconic stays have been announced including the Ferrari Museum in Italy, Prince’s Purple Rain House, and the real life Disney ‘Up’ house. Applications are up to $100 with many being free and 4000 golden tickets will be awarded.
AI Updates
In November, Airbnb acquired GamePlanner AI, co-founded by Siri co-founder Adam Cheyer, for $200M. But, rather than building custom models, Airbnb is wisely taking a product-centered approach, leveraging this new AI capacity to create a new interface for accessing modern AI models to improve its product.
CEO Brian Chesky says the current AI updates are mainly behind the scenes to streamline customer support ensuring customers are routed to the right agents or auto-resolving tickets with AI-generated responses. Future updates will likely include AI-powered review summaries and other more visible tools for hosts.
Airbnb's Q1 Report is due on 8 May, and earnings are expected to grow 16.78% over the year despite predictions the short-term rentals market boom is done.
“Build something 100 people love, not something 1 million people kind of like.”
Brian Chesky, Co-Founder & CEO Airbnb
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Closed Deals:
Powering Airbnb Hosting - Guesty, a platform for property managers to list and manage rentals on Airbnb, raised a $130M Series F round at a $900M pmv in April.
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