Airbnb CEO says ChatGPT isn't ready (www.latimes.com)

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky said he opted not to integrate Airbnb with OpenAI’s new ChatGPT app platform yet, calling the startup’s connective tools “not quite ready.” He advised OpenAI on the developer preview and said any integration would need to be “almost self-contained” to protect Airbnb’s verified-community model — signaling enterprise concerns around authentication, privacy and trust when embedding third‑party chatbots into apps. OpenAI describes the app integration as a developer preview; Airbnb will continue monitoring peers like Booking and Expedia and may reconsider once the platform matures. Meanwhile Airbnb is advancing its own in‑app AI: a customer‑service agent now shows action buttons and links that let users complete tasks without human reps, cutting live‑representative demand 15% and average resolution time from nearly three hours to six seconds. The agent runs on an ensemble of 13 models (OpenAI, Google, Alibaba’s Qwen and open‑source models), with heavy reliance on Qwen for speed and cost-efficiency; Chesky noted OpenAI’s latest models are used but less in production due to cost/speed tradeoffs. Airbnb is also rolling out social features (profile sharing, messaging between tourmates) and broader language support (Spanish/French this fall, 56 more next year), pointing to a hybrid strategy of bespoke in‑app AI plus selective future third‑party integrations.