Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky has revealed that generative AI has changed how he views entrepreneurship. The 45-year-old co-founder of the short-term rental company said that the launch of ChatGPT made him wish he could return to his mid-20s, when he was building Airbnb. Chesky believes today’s AI tools let aspiring founders build products and businesses with fewer resources than they needed two decades ago.“Until the launch of generative AI, ChatGPT, I said ‘Thank god I was born the time I did, because now is a tougher time,’” Chesky recently said on the Silicon Valley Girl podcast. “And then post-ChatGPT, part of me said, ‘I wish I was 26 again.’”“Because actually, as amazing as Airbnb is, if I was 26, I could probably do something just as cool. Because the tools now are so much more powerful,” he added.
Brian Chesky says AI could help founders build new businesses
Chesky co-founded Airbnb in 2008, when smartphones and social media platforms were changing how people interacted with technology. Looking at the current AI landscape, he said he sees opportunities for entrepreneurs to build companies that would have required more resources in the past.The Airbnb CEO said he would consider exploring areas such as education and healthcare if he were starting out today. He also mentioned the possibility of building an “AI Disney”, suggesting that artificial intelligence could change storytelling and entertainment beyond chatbots and text-based tools.Chesky predicted that the AI era could produce hundreds of large companies like Anthropic, alongside “tens of millions” of smaller businesses.Now, a handful of people can start a company, something that “was inconceivable before,” Chesky said.
Brian Chesky on why it is easier to start a company than 20 years ago
While AI raises concerns about job displacement, Chesky argued that people can also use the technology to build their own products and businesses. He acknowledged that workers outside Silicon Valley may feel that AI is something happening to them rather than a tool they can use.“People outside of Silicon Valley feel like AI is happening to them…and it’s changing their job. It’s displacing them,” Chesky said during the podcast.“Some of that may be true, and I’m not defending it,” he continued. “But I am saying that everyone has the power now. And that if you have an idea, you can now make something. And it is so much easier to build a company now than it was 20 years ago.”
Why Brian Chesky wants people to experiment with AI
Despite his enthusiasm, Chesky acknowledged that learning to use new AI tools can be intimidating. He said he initially felt unsure about experimenting with Claude Code, but an Airbnb employee familiar with it helped him.He suggested people learn from colleagues, friends, and online tutorials rather than waiting until they fully understand the technology before trying it.“Jump in the pool,” Chesky said. “The water is not cold, it just looks cold. For those that are already in the pool, just don’t get out.”
