Bumble To Use AI To Make Deeper Matches

Bumble is preparing a radical AI-powered update that will not only transform its app but also revolutionize online dating, giving users access to “the world’s smartest and most emotionally intelligent matchmaker in existence.”

Why It Hits: The dating app industry has undergone a steep financial and cultural decline in the past five years. Almost every platform has lost users and revenue, with Bumble shrinking from a $13 billion valuation in 2021 to just $660 million today. Meanwhile, young people frustrated with the apps are drifting back to in-person matchmaking events. To survive, Bumble recognizes it needs a radical overhaul of its platform.

Behind The Questions: Bumble wants to put matchmaking in the hands of a chatbot designed to know your dating preferences better than you do.

• Launching in beta this fall, the new Bumble will build profiles from questions about users’ past relationships, breakups, and experiences with love, per The WSJ.
• The company trained its LLM in consultation with “expert psychologists and relationship counselors,” making attachment theory a core feature.
• That means the way the AI determines your attachment style — anxious, avoidant, disorganized, or secure — will heavily influence your matches.
• While the classic swipe-based app will still exist, the new platform may cap the number of matches, take longer to generate them, and even help plan dates — with some features possibly paywalled.

Last Chat: Bumble founder and CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd is one of the most influential figures in online dating — she cofounded Tinder (and even came up with the name) and became the youngest woman ever to take a company public with Bumble. In other words, she’s the Queen of the Swipe Right era.

But now, she admits the swipe mentality isn’t great for finding lasting love. In fact, she confessed she wouldn’t have swiped right on her own husband. Even on the apps, looking a little deeper may be the most attractive thing of all.

Next Match: By slowing down dating with an AI-driven, less-is-more approach, Bumble hopes to cut fatigue, improve success rates, and revitalize both its user base and bottom line. If it works, swiping may no longer define modern romance.