- Airbnb CTO Hiring News Apparently Confirms Apple’s Long-Rumored Self-Driving Car Project
- It adds context to Apple’s broader AI strategy, especially with the news about the partnership with Google.
- It also shows Airbnb’s AI ambitions, which are decidedly focused on the human element.
Apple is known for being one of the most secretive technology companies, rarely confirming projects in development and usually announcing new hardware or software only when the time is right. Entire initiatives can live (and die quietly) within Cupertino without ever being publicly acknowledged.
Which is why it’s notable that, after years of rumors about Apple’s work on autonomous vehicles, unexpected confirmation appears to have come from Airbnb.
As part of a publicly shared internal announcement naming Ahmad Al-Dahle as Airbnb’s new chief technology officer, a memo sent to employees reads:
“In 2014, Ahmad created and led Apple’s autonomous technology group, responsible for developing the core artificial intelligence systems for the company’s self-driving car project.”
While Apple has never formally confirmed the project, the statement aligns closely with long-standing reports and offers one of the clearest acknowledgments yet that the effort existed in a serious and sustained way.
The memo also highlights the length and breadth of Al-Dahle’s time at Apple. He joined the company two years before the first iPhone was released, working on multi-touch and display systems, then contributed to the development of the Apple Watch and other hardware initiatives, before eventually leading Apple’s autonomous systems work.
Al-Dahle left Apple in 2020 and joined Meta, focusing on AI and, since 2023, working within Meta’s generative AI group. There, he helped launch Llama and implement AI features into the Meta suite.
What makes the revelation particularly surprising is not just what it reveals, but how it came about. Instead of an official announcement from Apple or a regulatory filing, confirmation came via Airbnb’s hiring announcement, an unusual but telling route for such a high-profile effort.
The timing also adds context to Apple’s broader AI strategy, including its recent partnership with Google to use Gemini as the basis for next-generation Siri and other AI-powered features. Taken together, these developments suggest less of a retreat and more of a recalibration.
Autonomous vehicles are one of the most complex intersections between hardware, software and artificial intelligence, and Apple’s decision to close the project seems consistent with a renewed focus on areas where it can ship products at scale within its existing ecosystem.
Partnering with Google on fundamental AI models similarly reflects a pragmatic approach, one where it can accelerate and potentially offload some of its AI capabilities, while focusing on the finished product, the user experience, and putting user privacy at the center internally.
For Airbnb, the hiring underscores how central AI has become to its future. Al-Dahle brings experience building and scaling large AI systems, which aligns with Airbnb’s increasing use of technology across its platform.
In 2025, Airbnb launched a comprehensive redesign of its iOS and Android apps, emphasizing cleaner navigation, improved discovery, and expanded experiences beyond rentals. The company also introduced AI-based customer service tools and personalized recommendations, while continuing to experiment with social features.
Brian Chesky, CEO and co-founder of Airbnb, has been increasingly vocal about the role of AI in daily life. In the same communication with employees, he emphasized a human-first approach:
“In an increasingly artificial world, people crave what’s real: a real connection with real people in the real world. No company is better positioned to meet this need than Airbnb.”
Chesky added that Al-Dahle “shares our belief that technology should serve people – not the other way around – and that its highest goal is to bring us closer.”
Airbnb is unlikely to venture into autonomous vehicles, but it’s clear from Chesky’s statement that it intends to continue focusing on customer experience and encouraging people to connect in the real world.
Chesky’s announcement of the CTO hire also offers a rare window into Apple’s past ambitions and the evolution in how major tech companies approach AI. Although the confirmation came in a unique way, it is yet to be confirmed by Apple.
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