Former Google and Meta engineers launch $3M AI travel assistant

Airial Travel has launched a public beta of its AI-powered platform that automates the entire trip-planning process, from initial brainstorming to final booking. Founded by former engineers from Google, Meta, and Waymo, the company has raised $3 million in seed funding and aims to eliminate the tedious hours typically spent researching and planning vacations.

How it works: Airial uses natural language processing to understand travel goals and preferences, then generates customized itineraries based on user input.

• Users can describe their travel ambitions in conversational language, such as “I’m taking two weeks off of work in October, and want to travel somewhere warm, and not too expensive. Maybe somewhere in the Mediterranean region or in the Caribbean.”
• The AI assistant asks follow-up questions to refine preferences, offering categories like “Beach relaxation” and “Cultural experiences” to better understand interests.
• An “Instant Plan” option skips the questioning process and immediately provides suggested itineraries for users who want quick results.

Key features: The platform goes beyond basic itinerary planning to include multimedia inspiration and detailed customization options.

• Airial connects users with relevant TikTok videos filmed in suggested destinations to provide visual motivation for travel plans.
• Users can adjust preferences for dietary restrictions, hotel star ratings, and flight accommodations to fine-tune their trips.
• The platform positions itself as a free automated travel agent, handling everything from destination selection to booking.

Competitive landscape: Airial enters a growing market of AI-powered travel planning tools, though it faces established competition.

• Travel giants like Expedia integrated ChatGPT-powered customer service chatbots in early 2023, while Kayak launched its own AI platform in 2024 using customer data for personalized recommendations.
• Similar end-to-end planning platforms like Mindtrip and Layla already offer comparable services in the automated travel planning space.

What you should know: The company collects user data to customize travel itineraries, according to its terms of service, while leveraging proprietary AI models developed by its team of former Big Tech engineers.