Why Vacation Rental Company Airbnb's Shares Are Jumping Today

Airbnb, Inc. ABNB shares are trading higher after acquiring GamePlanner.AI, a stealth 12-person AI company led by Adam Cheyer and Siamak Hodjat.

Cheyer co-founded Siri, which Apple Inc. AAPL acquired, and then led server-side engineering and AI for Siri while working alongside Steve Jobs. 

"...together with Adam and his team, we can develop some of the best interfaces and practical applications for AI," said Airbnb CEO and co-founder Brian Chesky. 

Alongside Cheyer, Hodjat led the natural language processing team for Siri at Apple and led the largest engineering team for Viv Labs at Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. SSNLF. Viv Labs was acquired by Samsung and is now known as the voice assistant Bixby. 

The deal is valued at just under $200 million, said CNBC, citing sources familiar with the matter.

This transaction marks Airbnb's initial acquisition since 2019, potentially sparking Wall Street curiosity about whether Chesky's approach to mergers and acquisitions is evolving, possibly rendering Airbnb a more appealing acquisition, CNBC added.

"What makes GamePlanner.AI so special is that they combine expertise in AI, design, and community," Airbnb said in a release.

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Price Action: ABNB shares are trading higher by 5.25% to $125.40 on the last check Tuesday.