GPT‑5 launches, Airbnb goes AI-first while Bumble loses more subscribers: This week's news roundup

With signs that Airbnb and Duolingo's AI-first strategies are paying off, Google Gemini's new learning mode, and Openai's launch of GPT‑5, here are the stories that caught our attention this week.

GPT‑5 launches and sets new benchmarks

OpenAI’s latest release, GPT‑5, is raising the bar in intelligence, usability, and trustworthiness, emerging as its most advanced AI system to date.

Key improvements are showing up directly in the product. ChatGPT is now more capable across its most common uses: writing, coding, and health. In writing, GPT‑5 is better at capturing tone and structure for everything from poetry to reports. In coding, it generates full web apps and debugs large codebases in a single prompt. In health, it acts more like a knowledgeable assistant, offering personalised responses while staying within safety boundaries.

OpenAI also states its hallucination rates have dropped by up to 80% in reasoning mode compared to GPT‑4o, and the model is significantly more honest in edge-case scenarios, where others were prone to overconfidence.

GPT‑5 also introduces preset personalities, meaning you can now set how ChatGPT interacts without writing custom prompts like Nerd, Listener, or Cynic. GPT‑5 Pro, a premium variant offering deeper, more accurate reasoning, is now available to Pro subscribers.

Airbnb is on the way to becoming an AI-first platform

CEO Brian Chesky announced that Airbnb is transitioning to becoming an AI-first application during the company’s Q2 2025 earnings call this week – it will be a mobile-first, intelligence-led platform where AI not only assists but acts on behalf of users, he said.

Chesky said, unlike other travel companies, Airbnb hasn’t focused on using AI to offer travel planning and inspiration. Instead, it is using AI in customer service, and Airbnb's AI chatbot now handles 50% of user interactions in the US, and has reduced the need for human agents by 15%. Chesky said it will become more personalised over the next year and able to take more actions on the user’s behalf. He said: "It will not only tell you how to cancel your reservation, it will know which reservation you want to cancel. It can cancel it for you and it can be agentic as in it can start to search and help you plan and book your next trip."

Airbnb’s Q2 revenues surged 13% year-over-year to $3.1 billion, beating expectations of approximately $3.03 billion. The company forecasts slower growth in the second half of the year, however.

Uber looks to expand robotaxi business

Uber is in talks with banks and private equity firms to expand its robotaxi business, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has confirmed. Despite slow consumer adoption, robotaxis are seen as a margin booster for Uber as they reduce its reliance on human drivers.

Competition in the robotaxi space, at least in the US, is heating up, despite the many regulatory hurdles. Waymo operates in five US cities, and Uber has integrated Waymo’s autonomous vehicles into its app in Atlanta and Austin. Tesla launched a robotaxi service in Austin in June, and in Jul,y Uber signed a $300 million deal to roll out 20,000 robotaxis over the next six years. Critics argue the industry is rushing toward commercialisation without resolving many fundamental safety, technical, and societal issues.

Dating app Bumble loses more subscribers

Dating app Bumble reported a sharp drop in subscribers for Q2 2025, with paid subscriptions falling nearly 9% to 3.8 million, down from 4.1 million in Q2 2024. Total Average Revenue per Paying User (ARPPU) increased slightly to $21.69, compared to $21.37 a year earlier, whereas in Q1 2025 ARPPU fell from $26.34 to $24.84.

The dating app industry is having a rough time of it, as users become increasingly disenchanted with swiping culture. Some, including Bumble, are trying to expand into friendship and community, or embedding AI tools into their apps to improve matches and safety.

AI strategy takes Duolingo from strength to strength

Duolingo has increased its 2025 revenue outlook to $1.01 billion to $1.02 billion, up from a previous range of $987 million to $996 million and above analyst estimates of $996.6 million. Strong Q2 and AI-driven growth are behind the adjustment. Duolingo’s Super and Max tiers, with AI-powered features like video-call practice, personalised error correction, and conversational chatbots, are driving higher conversions and engagement, and the introduction of AI-enabled tools has enabled rapid content scaling with 148 new language courses in a single year, compared to 100 in the previous decade

Duolingo announced an AI first strategy in April, but subsequently had to row back on it as staff and users expressed their concerns, with CEO Luis von Ahn saying: “To be clear: I do not see AI as replacing what our employees do (we are in fact continuing to hire at the same speed as before). I see it as a tool to accelerate what we do, at the same or better level of quality.”

Google launches Gemini Guided Learning

Google has launched a Guided Learning mode within the Gemini app, designed to go beyond quick answers and foster real understanding. It’s similar in intent to the ChatGPT study mode launched last week. Both are aimed at helping users learn more effectively with AI, but Gemini’s Guided Learning takes a structured, teacher-like approach to learning with step-by-step guidance and ChatGPT study mode is pitched as an AI tutor because it changes how students interact with AI by withholding answers, responding instead with questioning.