Brian Chesky Backs New AI Lab, Staying on as Airbnb CEO

3 articles · Updated · TechCrunch · Jun 4

Brian Chesky is backing a new AI lab but will remain Airbnb’s CEO rather than run the operation himself, according to a person familiar with the plan.
The move follows Chesky’s dissatisfaction with current frontier models; he said last year Airbnb had not signed an LLM partnership because available products were not ready.
Bloomberg reported the lab may focus on user interaction and design, areas Chesky has long emphasized at Airbnb, though its exact mandate remains unclear.
Chesky has been closely tied to OpenAI and Sam Altman for years—including advising Altman during OpenAI’s 2023 leadership crisis—so the new lab could put him in more direct competition with that company.