Airbnb buys start-up from Siri co-founder
The accommodation platform Airbnb is strengthening its ambitions in artificial intelligence with the purchase of a new start-up from one of the inventors of Apple's voice assistant Siri.
Airbnb did not disclose the purchase price, but according to the business channel CNBC, it was just under 200 million dollars (around 184 million euros). It is not known exactly what the start-up Gameplanner.ai is working on - it was still in "stealth mode", in which young companies operate under the radar, so to speak.
But the career of founder Adam Cheyer speaks for itself. He was one of the founders of the company behind Siri, which was bought by Apple. After two years at the iPhone company, he worked with other Siri developers on the Viv voice assistance software. The company was bought by Samsung and became the basis for Apple's voice assistant Bixby.
Airbnb wants to use artificial intelligence to create a kind of "travel concierge" in order to personalize the offer for users. The platform, which can be used to rent apartments and houses, competes with other similar services and the hotel industry.
- Adam Cheyer, known for his role in creating Apple's voice assistant Siri and later working on Samsung's Viv voice assistance software, is the founder of the start-up that Airbnb recently purchased.
- With the acquisition of this new start-up, Airbnb aims to utilize the expertise in software and artificial intelligence to enhance its services, eventually creating a personalized "travel concierge" for users.
- This purchase, reportedly worth around 200 million dollars, could potentially give Airbnb a competitive edge in the market, helping it to better compete with other travel booking platforms and the hotel industry.
Source: www.dpa.com
