Airbnb poaches former Meta GenAI leader to be new technology chief

“With Ahmad, we are really, really excited because we have an opportunity to do AI right for travel, to do AI right for ecommerce,” Chesky told CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin.

Al-Dahle previously ran Meta’s older GenAI unit and was later appointed co-head of AI products when the social media company divided the unit after developers poorly received its Llama 4 model. Meta later hired Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang as part of a $14.3 billion deal to bolster its AI strategy.

Former tech chief Ari Balogh stepped down in December after more than seven years at the company. He joined Airbnb in 2018 from Google.

Airbnb is in the midst of a major transformation as it attempts to push beyond its reputation as a short-term rental platform.

“AI is 24/7, speaks every language, can learn from millions and millions of customer actions to help you. … And with Ahmad we’re going to be able to move up funnel to travel search,” Chesky told Sorkin. “And imagine one day Airbnb is this travel concierge, this companion that’s with you the entire trip. That’s where we’re going.”

Chesky, who is a close friend of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, has also shared aspirations to integrate ChatGPT into the platform. However, he told CNBC in October that the chatbot is “not quite robust enough.”

Al-Dahle fits into the company’s mission to use its technology and AI to foster human connection, Chesky wrote in his post.

He “shares our belief that technology should serve people—not the other way around—and that its highest purpose is to bring us closer together,” he said.

Al-Dahle previously spent 16 years at Apple, working across its special projects and imaging and sensing technology groups. He graduated from the University of Waterloo in Canada.

“He connects big ideas with technical depth, highly values design, and believes engineering should be a true strategic partner in everything we do,” Chesky wrote in a blog post.

CNBC’s Jacqueline Corba contributed to this story.