After Airbnb 'caught' using Chinese AI models for customers' tools, CEO Brian Chesky says that those worried do not understand how system works

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky has defended the company’s use of Chinese artificial intelligence models. His remarks came after US lawmakers raised concerns about potential risks to customer data. Responding to critics, Chesky said that US lawmakers are “misunderstanding” how open-source AI systems operate. Referring to the congressional probe into Airbnb’s use of Alibaba Group’s Qwen large language model for customer service tools, Chesky said Airbnb does not share user information with Chinese firms and primarily relies on open-source AI models, including those developed in the US.In an interview with Bloomberg News, Chesky said, “We are not providing data to any Chinese companies. They don’t have access to any data. We’re primarily using a variety of open-source models, including US open-source models. An open-source model does not have access to data. It doesn’t work that way. I think people need to understand how this stuff works.”The comments follow a letter from House committees on China and homeland security to Airbnb last month, seeking details about its use of Chinese AI models. The investigation is part of a broader review into what lawmakers described as a Chinese effort to “accelerate its AI capabilities by exploiting American innovation.”US Committee members referenced an interview from October 2025 in which Chesky said Airbnb preferred Qwen in some scenarios because it was “fast and cheap.” The lawmakers said the remarks raised “serious concerns about the national security and data-security implications” for Airbnb customers and the company’s systems. Chesky said Airbnb is cooperating with congressional committees and responding to their questions regarding AI usage.The debate highlights increasing competition between US and Chinese AI companies as businesses weigh performance against operating costs. Lower-cost Chinese AI models have gained traction among enterprises seeking alternatives to more expensive offerings from US developers.Airbnb has previously said its AI customer service agent can now handle around 70% of customer support tickets, reflecting a broader shift toward AI-driven automation in customer service operations.Airbnb is not the only US company facing scrutiny over Chinese AI adoption. The same congressional committees have also sent inquiries to Anysphere, the company behind the Cursor AI coding tool. According to data from OpenRouter, seven of the 10 most-used AI models this month were developed by Chinese firms, including Tencent Holdings and DeepSeek.Google CEO Sundar Pichai has also explained how companies evaluate the AI models they plan to use. Speaking at the Google I/O developer conference, Pichai said companies evaluate AI models based on multiple factors and argued that open-source software benefits from community oversight.Pichai said, “If it is open source with the right licenses, it should matter less where it came from. With open source comes a community which is responsible for it, cares about it. So if something wrong is happening in that software, it’s not like it’s going to go unnoticed.”“I worry less about, ‘Are we adopting open source models from China?’ and more, ‘Are we doing enough in the US to make sure we are staying at the frontier?’” he added.