Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky says there's one thing Silicon Valley needs to do to change Americans' minds on AI

Aug 13, 2026 01:11 PM - 1 hour ago 1

Brian Chesky successful a acheronian garment gestures while holding a distant successful beforehand of bluish stadium seats.

Brian Chesky said Silicon Valley needs to beryllium releasing much products for regular people. David Paul Morris/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky thinks Silicon Valley holds the reply to AI's increasing nationalist cognition problem: build things for regular people.

Chesky, a awesome proponent of AI, acknowledged AI backlash among Americans successful an question and reply connected the Yahoo Finance podcast "Power Players pinch Brian Sozzi" published this week. Part of the logic for it, he said, is the kinds of AI products that Silicon Valley is and isn't shipping.

"I deliberation portion of it's a communicative rumor that we're not talking astir AI correctly," he said. "But portion of it is we request to really beryllium processing much products that conscionable regular group tin usage and say, 'I emotion AI because AI allows maine to person a expert connected request and I can't person that. I can't spend that.' And truthful I deliberation we request much regular things."

Chesky said that compared to erstwhile he started Airbnb 18 years ago, galore founders now look to beryllium "afraid" to make consumer-facing products. He said successful the past batch of companies astatine the startup accelerator Y Combinator, wherever he is connected the board, 159 retired of 175 were enterprise, not consumer.

"It's successful Silicon Valley's liking for america to create user applications that amended people's lives," he said. "You cognize why? Because regular group successful the United States do not for illustration AI. I'm making a generalization. But if you look astatine polling of AI, the conception of AI is not celebrated extracurricular of Silicon Valley, and yet this is simply a exertion that tin thief truthful galore people's lives."

A Pew Research Center study successful June recovered that 40% of US adults believed the effect of AI connected nine complete the adjacent 20 years would beryllium negative, while only 16% believed it would beryllium positive.

The rising AI guidance has put immoderate Silicon Valley figures connected the offensive. Several AI companies person put retired rainbow-filled, feel-good ads successful an effort to flip the book connected Americans' doom-and-gloom fears astir an AI-ridden future. Tech CEOs are besides penning lengthy manifestos astir what the early pinch AI will look like, including Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg's 6,500-word screed published this week titled "The Future is for Everyone."

Airbnb declined to supply further remark erstwhile reached by Business Insider.

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Kelsey is simply a elder newsman for Business Insider, wherever she covers business and tech news arsenic good arsenic stories astir travel, luxury, and consulting.Her characteristic communicative "Disaster astatine 18,200 feet" received awards from the New York Press Club and the North American Travel Journalists Association, arsenic good arsenic honorable mention from the Society of American Travel Writers. It was besides included connected Longreads' and Pocket's champion of 2022 lists. She has besides received an American Journalism Online Award for her sum connected missing and murdered Indigenous group successful Wyoming.She's appeared connected CBS, NPR, NBC, and different outlets to talk her work. She antecedently worked connected the world news table astatine the BBC successful London and received a master's successful publicity from Northwestern University.She tin beryllium reached by email astatine [email protected] aliases via the encrypted-messaging app Signal @kelseyv.21.Popular storiesDisaster connected Denali: Inside a 1,000-foot autumn connected America's highest peakThrifting is much celebrated than ever. It's besides ne'er been worse.Rolex wouldn't work the vintage watch my mom inherited. Watchmakers opportunity it happens each the time.A tiny, invasive bug and the ambiance situation are changing really guitars are made, and shifting the people of euphony historyThe tourism free-for-all is overGovernment-run boarding schools were founded to 'civilize' Native Americans. Hundreds of dormant children stay buried successful the schoolyard graves.Meet the Texas curate who helps alert dozens of women to New Mexico each period to get abortionsPeople are flocking to Colorado for the awesome outdoors, but the aerial contamination is truthful bad, it's forcing galore to enactment insideInside Kabul: An assistance worker reveals the devastating chaos that erupted during the US exit from Afghanistan

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