source: techcrunch ai: airbnb’s brian chesky plans to launch a new ai lab
level: business
airbnb ceo brian chesky is planning to launch his own ai lab, according to a bloomberg report confirmed by techcrunch. he will remain at airbnb and not lead the lab directly. the move puts him among a group of silicon valley leaders who are unhappy with the models from existing frontier labs. chesky has said airbnb uses ai coding tools but has not partnered with a large language model provider because the products are not ready.
chesky has deep ties to the ai industry. he met openai ceo sam altman in 2006 through y combinator, which incubated airbnb. when openai grew, chesky advised altman on managing a hypergrowth company. he was considered for an openai board seat and helped altman return after the board fired him. chesky advised on public relations and rallied support from other tech leaders. now he appears to be competing with altman's company.
the lab's focus is not yet clear, but bloomberg mentioned user interaction and design, areas chesky has stressed at airbnb. this is similar to brett adcock's hark lab, which is building a new interface for an ai assistant, though hark also works on hardware. the new lab will have to compete with established ai labs and deal with a founding chair known for micromanaging. airbnb and chesky declined to comment.
why it matters: chesky's entry could bring fresh design-focused approaches to ai, potentially influencing how users interact with ai systems.
source: techcrunch ai: airbnb’s brian chesky plans to launch a new ai lab