00:00The way that I look at this, this new offering from Airbnb, not just an expansion of travel
00:05services, right? More like Airbnb is an app store where developers can build for the existing
00:11customer base. So with everything new that you're offering, is this Brian Chesky and founder mode
00:17building it to grow it and launch it? Or are you thinking M&A and buying it?
00:23Interesting. Great question. So, you know, I think you're right. What we announced today
00:29were four major services, groceries, airport pickup, luggage storage, and car rentals. But
00:34what I told everyone is just the beginning. You're going to see dozens of more services. And what
00:38we're building is an ecosystem of services for every part of your trip from the time you arrive
00:43to the time you leave. It is a little bit like an app store in the sense that working with
00:46the
00:46developers, we want to create really great integrations. We want to create great guidelines.
00:51And mostly to answer your question, we're looking mostly at partnering. We're always going to be
00:55open-minded about acquisitions. But, you know, we really want to elevate these partners around the
01:00world. And so we have some great partners today. And we really just want to be a great partner to
01:04them. The reason I asked it that way, Brian, is like strategically in the past, you've done some
01:09deals. I'm thinking like hotels tonight or like even areas you've divested from. What am I thinking of?
01:15Like tickets, tour booking, right? But hotels is really interesting here. 20 markets for boutique
01:21hotels, I would look at that and say those are also markets where there are some limitations on
01:26short-term rental. But what's your pitch to the boutique hotel industry? Why Airbnb is a partner?
01:32Well, actually, it's really interesting. They're pitching us, which I was very surprised to buy.
01:37And why are they pitching us? Well, because many of the boutique and independent hotels, by the way,
01:42if anyone's wondering how many there are, about 60% of the hotels in the world are boutiques and
01:46independents. Boutiques and independents don't get the same deal that chain hotels get because chain
01:51hotels like Hilton and Marriott have points programs. They also are able to negotiate with
01:56booking Expedia lower commissions than boutiques. And so what we offer is a flat 15% commission
02:02on boutiques and hotels. We've got this great merchandising for them. A lot of boutique hotels,
02:07especially in Europe, love that we have American travelers. We have younger travelers. And we're just
02:12really built custom for them. And so they ultimately want more demand of young and young travelers in
02:19particular. And that's what we can offer them. Changing consumer behavior so hard, or rather
02:27bringing new behaviors from a consumer so hard. Like I'm going to pass a Robles right in June. So if
02:33I
02:33book an Airbnb, okay, maybe it makes sense if I do the wine tasting experience with it. But with all
02:38the
02:38new things you have, how do you actually get people to make use of that? You know, it's really important
02:44that we personalize the app. So like, some people want to participate and do a cooking class and do a
02:50food tour on their vacation. Some people just want to relax and they want groceries delivered for them
02:55and they want everything taken care of. The most important thing is that we have a deeply personalized
02:59service. So with a new homepage, the app really learns about you. With AI, we can start to understand
03:05your preferences. My vision is eventually every person in the open Airbnb sees something different
03:11than something else based on what they love. And I over time want the app to feel like it knows
03:15you.
03:15You know, we're in the hospitality business. Our app is only as good as the sense that it feels like
03:19it knows you and is personalized to you. So even if one day we offer a hundred different categories of
03:24service experiences, we don't want to throw a hundred things at you. We want to know the five things you
03:29really care about. Since the beginning of May, I've been reading completely inconsistent reports
03:35about travel demand for the FIFA World Cup, particularly from the hotels. What is Airbnb
03:41seeing for those coming for this World Cup? I mean, we are anticipating the World Cup will be the biggest
03:47event in Airbnb history. And we're seeing a similar travel pattern as Milan Olympics.
03:53More than 60 days out for the Milan Olympics, it did not look like the demand was going to be
03:59what we anticipated. And then something unexpected happened. We had a surge of demand within 60 days
04:04of the beginning of the games and 200,000 guests stayed in Milan and Cortino for the Olympics.
04:10So what we're seeing is people booking more last minute, but we are still seeing a huge amount of
04:14demand for the World Cup. So to answer your question, we are expecting it to be the biggest event
04:19in Airbnb history. You spoke to my colleague and friend, Natalie Leung, about Chinese AI models
04:26and a misunderstanding of how that works in practice. But I just wanted to clarify, is Airbnb
04:31still using or relying on some of those models, you know, Quinn or even newer ones? And is that
04:39the open source opportunity? Or is that the sort of cloud-based API where you're a customer of those
04:44companies? We are not a customer of those companies. We're using a variety of different open source
04:49models. I just want to say a few things about this matter. Number one, data and privacy is most important
04:55to Airbnb. I think anyone who knows Airbnb knows we have an outstanding track record on data security
05:00and privacy. Number two, all of our data is vaulted. No company has access to our data. It is vaulted
05:06in
05:07Airbnb. Number three, the Congressional Committee has reached out to us. They said they have some
05:13questions. We said we want to cooperate. And so we're in direct contact and cooperation with them.
05:18And I think before I answer any more questions to the public, I want to make sure that the
05:21Congressional Committee hears from me directly.
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