Airbnb is deploying “anti-party technology” to ruin your NYE party

Airbnb has announced it’s deploying to prevent “unauthorized and disruptive parties” from happening at homes on its platform for New Year’s Eve. If you were planning on hosting a get-together, start thinking of a Plan B.

The company says it’s using machine learning to identify and block high-risk, whole-home bookings in advance based on a variety of criteria. Airbnb’s assessment takes into account things like the length of a trip, how far a listing is from your current location, and when you’re trying to book to weed out potentially disruptive parties. If you’re booking a two-night stay a week before New Year’s Eve, you’re likely to tingle Airbnb’s anti-party senses. The company will either block your reservation entirely or direct you to different accommodations.

Party detection technology will be used in countries and regions globally, according to Airbnb. If you’re trying to book an entire home in “the US, Puerto Rico, Canada, the UK, France, Spain, Australia and New Zealand,” you’ll also have to be willing to stay for more than three days and agree to a “mandatory anti-party attestation” to be allowed to book.

Airbnb’s transformation into the party police has been happening for a few years at this point. The company claims that it blocked 74,000 people globally from booking an entire home listing for a party in 2023. It’s also its machine learning tech to weed out unauthorized events before. Airbnb’s stricter stance towards events started in earnest during 2019, after five people died in a shooting at an Airbnb listing. Airbnb outright in 2020, and the company now offers hosts multiple tools for tamping down noise complaints, including that can be placed in homes to detect noises over a certain volume.