Airbnb CEO’s X account compromised in crypto-token posts
Brian Chesky regained access after his X account posted deleted crypto-tokenization commentary that Fortune reported was flagged as AI-written.
By Maya Lindqvist · Senior Technology Correspondent
3 min read
Airbnb cofounder and CEO Brian Chesky’s X account was compromised this week and used to publish a thread about crypto-linked asset tokenization, Fortune reported, citing a person familiar with the matter. The incident matters because Chesky’s account reaches more than 1.2 million followers and is normally used for Airbnb updates and business commentary.
The posts appeared Monday and laid out a positive view of “real-world asset tokenization,” a crypto term Fortune described as the conversion of conventional assets, such as stocks, into digital tokens. Fortune reported that the thread has since been deleted.
The thread appeared as a reply to an X user discussing Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev’s recent CNBC interview about tokenized real-world assets, according to Fortune. Airbnb declined to comment publicly, Fortune reported.
Fortune said correspondence it reviewed between Airbnb and X employees showed the posts were reported to X and raised with platform security staff as a “high-profile compromise.” X secured the account Tuesday evening, after which Chesky regained access, according to Fortune.
AI writing drew scrutiny
Users on X questioned the thread’s style and described it as “AI slop,” a phrase used for low-quality AI-generated material, according to Fortune. Bloomberg’s Joseph Weisenthal pointed to the post’s punctuation style as a sign it may have been AI-written, Fortune reported.
Lulu Cheng Meservey, founder of communications firm Rostra, warned on X that CEOs can hurt trust when they publish unfiltered AI-written content, according to Fortune. Fortune said it ran the thread through Pangram, an AI-detection tool, which rated the posts as 100% AI-generated.
Chesky has used X heavily for company-related communication, including product updates, earnings reactions and lessons from building Airbnb, Fortune reported. Fortune also noted that Chesky has used the platform to ask users for suggestions, including ideas on lowering cleaning fees and adding crypto payments.
Chesky has also praised artificial intelligence. Fortune reported that he told CNBC in February that AI was the best thing to happen to Airbnb, and Bloomberg has reported that he is preparing to launch an AI lab focused on new models.
AI slop and CEO account security
The episode comes as AI-generated material fills more social feeds. Merriam-Webster named “slop” its 2025 word of the year, according to Fortune, and Pangram has reported that about one in four long-form social posts are AI-generated, with AI-written material appearing in nearly half of longer X “Articles.”
Sprout Social reported that 56% of survey respondents said they often or very often encounter AI slop on social media, while 83% said they see it at least sometimes. Sprout Social also found that half of respondents had unfollowed, muted or blocked accounts when content felt like AI slop.
Other prominent technology executives have had social accounts breached. Fortune reported that Mark Zuckerberg’s Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest accounts were briefly compromised in 2016 by a group called OurMine Team. CNBC reported that Jack Dorsey’s Twitter account was taken over for about 20 minutes in 2019, an incident CNN said preceded Twitter’s decision to permanently disable its SMS-based “text-to-tweet” feature.
This story draws on original reporting from Fortune.