Swipeless online dating? How AI is reshaping the search for love

Tired of the aforesaid aged dating apps similar Bumble and Hinge, Marie Lansley tried talking to an artificial quality matchmaker.

For astir 15 minutes, she chatted with an AI dependable connected the dating app Known, answering questions astir her upbringing, personality, education, lessons from past relationships and whether she’s looking for a superior narration oregon thing much casual.

“Divorced astatine 36. Yea, you’re not present to discarded time. The mode you physique your days matter,” the AI dependable told her aft Lansley replied she was looking for a superior relationship.

Weeks later, the San Francisco nonmigratory got a lucifer on with a written summary of wherefore the brace could beryllium compatible. But the alien wasn’t her benignant and she wasn’t keen connected paying $15 to conscionable up.

Startups similar Known are roping successful caller users by hosting in-person dating events successful San Francisco.

“I privation to beryllium capable to usage AI to amended ratio successful dating and to assistance navigate a beauteous frustrating dating landscape. But determination are conscionable immoderate things that are truthful profoundly quality that AI exertion cannot capture,” said Lansley, who has posted astir her dating acquisition connected societal media.

Singles similar Lansley are dipping their toes into the wacky satellite of AI dating but they’re besides skeptical if it volition marque it easier to find love. Online dating is ripe for disruption, and tech companies large and tiny are turning to AI arsenic a imaginable solution to find radical amended matches much rapidly and assistance them amended their chances of landing a date.

For years, radical person been frustrated and exhausted by the seemingly endless magnitude of swiping and tiny speech that spell obscurity connected dating apps. They’re turning to in-person options specified arsenic moving clubs, pickleball and velocity dating but uncovering the close spouse is inactive tough.

Online dating remains a fashionable mode radical hunt for a spouse but immoderate are dumping the platforms. Tinder’s monthly progressive users successful March dropped 7% year-over-year, though its genitor institution Match Group noted that the complaint of diminution has been slowing arsenic it revamps the app.

West Hollywood-based Tinder, which has astir 50 cardinal monthly users, has been experimenting with utilizing AI to analyse a user’s camera rotation and urge amended matches.

Known, an AI dating app, has its branding plastered connected a storefront successful the Marina District successful San Francisco.

Its rival Bumble — an app that initially stood retired for having women connection their matches archetypal — saw its paying users driblet 21% to 3.2 cardinal successful the archetypal 4th this twelvemonth compared to 2025. The institution has been moving connected AI matchmaking and plans to ditch swiping successful the past 3 months of the twelvemonth successful prime markets.

Even dating services that person grown users specified arsenic West Hollywood-based Grindr, an app for the LGBTQ+ community, and Facebook Dating, which is included successful the main societal network, are besides leveraging AI more.

And caller AI dating startups are popping up successful California, New York and different states that could alteration the mode radical find a spouse online. Former Hinge co-founder and Chief Executive Justin McLeod is moving connected an AI dating app called Overtone, stating connected its website that “AI, if utilized correctly, tin assistance america invent an wholly caller mode for radical to find their partners that is acold much personal, acold much efficient, and acold much effective.”

Some of those startups started successful the San Francisco Bay area, wherever AI dating apps are hosting parties, velocity dating, java meet-ups and different in-person events to enactment radical into utilizing their caller service.

Singles who downloaded the Known dating app mingle implicit drinks astatine Left Door, a cocktail lounge successful San Francisco, connected Thursday.

On 1 caller Thursday night, dating app startup Known hosted a dating lawsuit astatine a swanky San Francisco cocktail lounge for radical who completed their matchmaking telephone connected the app. The event’s statement said attendees would beryllium greeted with “champagne, caviar bumps, and a mysterious envelope” that reveals who the AI matchmaker paired them up with.

Known Chief Executive and co-founder Celeste Amadon, who dropped retired of Stanford University to make the AI dating app, said Americans are spending much clip unsocial astatine location arsenic online services person made it much convenient to bash everything from getting nutrient delivered, online store and date. Young radical kick astir accepted dating apps yet they’re besides inactive connected them.

“The much I understood today’s dating apps, the much wide it became that they person been for the amended portion of 2 decades now, designed, tweaked, redesigned, rebuilt, to not work,” she said.

The institution charges per day to guarantee radical amusement up but the startup besides has a concern inducement to find radical a lucifer they really privation to meet, she said. Known plans to grow to San Diego successful July, she said. Amadon said she expects the AI matching exertion to go much close implicit time.

Known hasn’t shared its idiosyncratic numbers oregon gross figures. Founded successful 2025, the startup launched the dating app successful February and has raised astir $10 cardinal from investors specified arsenic Coelius Capital, Forerunner Ventures and NFX, according to PitchBook.

Grindr is learning much astir however overmuch users are consenting to usage and wage for AI features.

The institution has been investigating a subscription tier called “Edge” successful Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Canada that includes AI tools that recap meaningful chats, show personalized illustration recommendations and amusement users who they’re apt to lucifer with.

Unlike different dating apps, Grindr users don’t swipe done profiles. The app displays a grid of radical who are adjacent that they’re capable to chat with. Grindr has expanded beyond casual dating, allowing radical to find friends, question companions and others successful the LGBTQ+ community.

Grindr’s Chief Product Officer AJ Balance said the institution is inactive investigating subscription pricing for Edge but immoderate users are consenting to wage $350 per period due to the fact that they’re “seeing a batch of value” and redeeming time.

“We presumption AI and caller paradigm shifts similar it arsenic opportunities to physique great, caller merchandise experiences that haven’t been developed before,” helium said. “Our attack is truly to leverage AI, similar we did with mobile, to facilitate amended conversations, deeper connections, yet much occurrence successful dating successful the existent world.”

Other fashionable dating services aren’t charging for AI matchmaking features. On Facebook Dating, which has much than 21.5 cardinal regular users worldwide, users tin usage AI to constitute their illustration intro and chat with an dating adjunct for free.

AI dating startups are popping up successful California, New York and different states that could alteration the mode radical find a spouse online.

The AI adjunct tin urge radical looking for a superior relationship, idiosyncratic with communal hobbies oregon adjacent supra a definite tallness oregon age. Roughly 1 cardinal radical usage Facebook Dating’s AI adjunct regular successful the United States and Canada, Meta said.

Facebook Dating merchandise manager Neha Kumar said AI tin assistance combat “swipe fatigue” facing online dating users.

“You’re sifting done a clump of profiles. It’s truly hard to recognize and find idiosyncratic that’s compatible for you based connected your circumstantial types of preferences,” she said. “We truly wanted to deliberation astir leveraging AI to lick this increasing symptom point.”

Technology is besides a double-edged sword. The emergence of AI tools means radical tin usage exertion to easy manipulate photos and trade messages connected dating apps that mightiness marque them look overmuch much charismatic oregon charismatic than they are successful person. Some radical are adjacent turning to AI chatbots for companionship.

“How bash we support quality authenticity and quality transportation done an AI world? I don’t person a cleanable reply to that. I deliberation we’re inactive figuring it out,” Kumar said.

Lansley, the online dating user, said apps bash marque dating much convenient but it’s overmuch much absorbing to conscionable radical face-to-face. She worries radical volition trust excessively overmuch connected AI arsenic a “crutch” to regenerate quality intimacy oregon affectional judgment.

“Chemistry,” she said, “is ever going to beryllium analog.”