TECH CRUNCH – Bumble CEO, Whitney Wolfe Herd, envisions a future where AI significantly enhances online dating experiences, focusing on improving user compatibility and safety. She foresees AI acting as a digital matchmaker, with users sharing their values, preferences, and lifestyle to determine compatibility, negating the need to interact with numerous potential matches. Herd emphasized that while Bumble's AI advancements will focus on refining safety measures and fostering meaningful connections, they won't delve into creating virtual partners. The AI will facilitate more precise matches, allowing users to converse with a select few who meet their specified criteria, streamlining the dating process.
Category: Outlets – Tech Crunch
Dating App The League Launches ‘GoalMate’ Feature
Cosmic: a Unique, Free Dating App Using Personality Quizzes
TECH CRUNCH – Cosmic, a new dating app from startup Friendly Apps, introduces a unique approach to dating profiles: instead of user-written bios, it offers a personality quiz. The answers, kept private, are then processed using machine learning to create a profile. Founded by Michael Sayman, an experienced app developer with stints at Facebook, Google, and Twitter, Cosmic aims to combat superficial dating app experiences and better capture a user's personality. Unlike other platforms, Cosmic doesn’t charge users for essential features like undoing swipes or seeing likes. The app, available in select countries, stands out by not having ads, boosts, or subscriptions. How it plans to monetize remains uncertain.
Match Group Bolsters Dating Apps With AI, Appoints Former Zynga Exec
TECH CRUNCH – Match Group, responsible for apps like Tinder and OkCupid, is boosting its AI efforts. They've hired former Zynga executive, Mark Kantor, to spearhead innovations. Kantor's team, named ASL (Art x Science Lab), will delve into generative AI to improve user experience. Initiatives include an AI-driven photo selector for Tinder and the potential for AI-generated dating bios.
Background Check Provider Garbo Ends Its Partnership With Match Group
by Sarah Perez
See full article at Tech Crunch
Also read the Wall Street Journal article
Mark Brooks: Background checks are a very tough nut to crack and require extremely nuanced knowledge on how to combine numerous databases to properly serve our dating context. This challenge remains undone, but there are a couple of promising providers.
Google Pushes Match for More Money in Antitrust Battle
TECH CRUNCH – Google has filed a new motion to the court in its antitrust battle with Epic Games and Match Group, where it claims that Match Group owes additional fees beyond the $40M that had been previously set aside in escrow. Those funds are Google's cut of Match's in-app payments on Google Play that Match argues are "illegal under federal and state law" – something the court case will decide. By Google's calculations, the new figure should total ~$84M instead, based on Match's public earnings. The escrow account was one of a handful of concessions from Google to get Match to drop a temporary restraining order it filed after first suing Google, accusing the tech giant of wielding unfair monopoly power in its Google Play Store. Google also committed to not rejecting or deleting Match-owned dating apps from the Play Store for providing alternative payment options. As part of this agreement, Match was to place up to $40M in the escrow account in lieu of paying fees directly to Google for the in-app payments that take place outside of Google Play's own payment system while the courts decide whether or not the commissions Google charges app developers on in-app purchases are legal.
Tinder Trials AI Features
TECH CRUNCH – Tinder is trialling an AI feature that chooses the best photos to represent a user in their dating profile. Match Group CEO, Bernard Kim, explained that AI can help users build more accurate profiles efficiently. The company is also testing other AI capabilities, such as content surfacing, and potentially using generative AI to assist users in writing their bio. However, they remain aware of the need to balance this with maintaining authenticity and addressing ethical and privacy concerns. This comes as part of a broader trend, with various dating apps integrating AI to improve user experience, from chat features to dating advice tools.
Tinder to Launch a ‘High-end’ Membership This Fall
TECH CRUNCH – Tinder is planning to launch a new premium membership, called "Tinder Vault", and a product refresh designed for Gen Z users. The premium membership will cost $500 per month and offer additional benefits beyond the existing offerings, making it an exclusive experience. This move was inspired by the acquisition of the high-end dating app, The League. Additionally, Tinder's product refresh will feature prompts, quizzes, conversation starters, and AI algorithms to improve user experiences.
Bumble BFF Is Officially a Separate App
Match Launches New Live in-app Event Called ’72 Hours’
TECH CRUNCH – Match.com is introducing a time-sensitive feature called "72 Hours" to foster more meaningful connections among its users. The feature, available weekly, allows users to message potential matches for three days before the conversation vanishes. During the designated time frame, members can select nearby profiles on a map and start conversations in hopes of making weekend plans with the other person before time runs out. Initially available in New York, the feature will gradually roll out nationwide. The idea behind "72 Hours" is to combat conversations that never move beyond the app and eventually die out.