AI agents need their own operating system

[PlanckLimit36]

Airbnb chief executive Brian Chesky has given an interesting interview to TechCrunch about where consumer AI is going. His main argument is that the tech industry still has no real operating system built for AI. Everyone is building AI apps on top of iOS, macOS and Windows, when he thinks AI should work at the kernel level with every component talking to each other. He does not think anyone has cracked consumer AI yet

He pointed to ChatGPT's app store as an example of what goes wrong. In his view, for something like that to work the way Apple's App Store does, you need both a proper software development kit and an operating system underneath it, and neither exists for AI agents yet. He said all apps need to become agents, all agents need to work together and they need much richer interfaces than a chat box

Chesky is not a fan of chatbots for shopping. He says they force too many back and forth turns and take away the pleasure of browsing, which matters for something like choosing a holiday home. Airbnb's new AI search is meant as a step along the way rather than the final answer. The company is building richer controls so outside agents can use Airbnb while still handing users back to the platform when needed

Airbnb also has some concrete plans. Over the next three to six months it wants to explore multiplayer AI, so groups can plan trips together with an assistant. Voice agents for search and customer service are due to roll out this autumn. That fits with the voice AI growth we saw in the ElevenLabs story

It is a thoughtful take from someone who runs a consumer business rather than an AI lab. OpenAI's Dots, Meta's Muse and now Chesky's comments all suggest agents are about to become the main battleground. Do you agree that chatbots are the wrong interface for shopping? And would you let an AI agent book a holiday for you?

Brian Chesky interview: AI agents need their own operating system | TechCrunchtechcrunch.com