Dating with AI: Dating app Bumble gets new features

The dating app Bumble, where women have to make the first move, is increasingly investing in AI. New functions are intended to keep the app interesting for younger users. AI is intended to support photo selection and profile design and improve the matching algorithm.

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The new AI features were already announced in Bumble’s earnings presentation for the second quarter of 2024 and are scheduled to be introduced this winter. The matching models are also to be optimized with AI. According to the US online medium TechCrunch, Bumble CEO Lidiane Jones announced this on Monday at the technology conference of the management consultancy Goldman & Sachs. They did not provide any further details.

Other providers are also relying on AI

With the photo selection tool, Bumble is on par with market leader Tinder. The Tinder app was recently expanded to include a “photo selector” function that suggests selfies from the photo gallery to users as profile pictures. How AI will support users in creating profiles in the future remains unclear. One obvious possibility would be that generative AI could help users write an interesting biography directly in the app. Tinder CPO Mark Van Ryswyk had already expressed the idea in the past, according to TechCrunch. In the second quarter of 2024, Tinder said it had 9.4 million paying users, while Bumble had 2.8 million.

The fact that dating app providers are expanding their products with AI is nothing new. Bumble for Friends, Bumble’s spin-off product for making friends, has been offering English-speaking users an AI-supported icebreaker feature since the end of 2023 that helps them write the first message. Bumble’s security features have been supported by AI for some time now. These are designed not only to detect spam and fraud attempts, but also to blur nude photos.

Grindr will also be introducing increased AI into its app. And Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd even reported last year that users could largely outsource their partner search to personal AI assistants in the future.

(kst)