THE VERGE – Several dating apps linked to a China-based AI catfishing operation remained available through Apple and Google after Anthropic discovered the network. The apps included Dora, Romi, Doni, Jovia, Luma, GraceChat, Kira, Nalo and Eterna. Most were removed during August and September, but Kira was still available on Google Play as of Sep 16. The apps reportedly concealed their AI personas and external payment systems during the review process.
SAN DIEGO UNION TRIBUNE – Known is a new dating app that replaces profiles and swiping with a 30-minute phone interview done by AI. The AI asks about the user’s personality, relationships, and preferences, while also analyzing their tone, hesitation, and laughter. Each person pays $15 to accept a match, after which Known arranges the time, restaurant, and reservation. Feedback from both people after the date is used to improve future matches. Known launched in San Diego in July and says thousands of people have registered.
GMK – Tinder introduced its first major rebrand in nearly a decade, working with design agency Porto Rocha. The update includes a sharper flame logo, an uppercase wordmark, new typography, and a broader colour palette. Tinder also created “T,” a fictional dating columnist, and introduced messaging such as “Happily TBD,” which presents dating as open-ended rather than necessarily leading to marriage. The rebrand is aimed mainly at Gen Z as Tinder deals with declining paying subscribers and growing dating-app fatigue.
FAST COMPANY – Free dates are becoming more common as younger Americans cut back on dating costs. Dating app Hily surveyed 5,400 Gen Z and millennial daters and found that 47% of Gen Z and 54% of millennials would accept a free date. However, 38% of Gen Z women viewed them as low-effort. Separate research from BMO Financial Group found that an average date now costs $200 – $250. 47% of singles said dating was no longer worth the expense.
OPW – Global Dating Insights (GDI) has been acquired by Courtland Brooks, the online dating consultancy founded by Mark Brooks. The acquisition begins a new chapter for GDI, almost 13 years after Simon Corbett founded the publication in 2013. Since then, the GDI editorial team has published thousands of news stories, interviews, features and analysis pieces, alongside the GDI Podcast, annual Power Book, special reports, newsletters and other industry content. The deal brings together two businesses that have worked closely within the online dating industry for many years. “The acquisition comes at a time of major change in online dating, driven by AI, regulation, safety concerns, new revenue models and consolidation. GDI will continue covering these issues and the people and companies shaping the industry,” Mark Brooks said.
LTR – In this conversation, Mark Brooks sits down with Colin Hodge, co-founder of DOWN, to discuss his new book, Outrageous Startup Growth: Uncovering the Secrets of User Psychology to Scale Your Success.
Colin shares lessons from growing DOWN from 6 million to 17 million users, as well as his experience scaling social products to more than 100 million users worldwide. He explains how principles of user psychology can be applied across dating, social apps, SaaS, and other businesses.
The conversation explores some of the book’s key ideas, including FOMO, decision architecture, “magic moments,” acquisition, retention, and North Star metrics, and why sustainable growth depends on creating meaningful outcomes for users, not simply driving engagement.
[**See the video here on YouTube**]
The March LTR was kindly sponsored by HubPeople, LeadThink and Courtland Brooks
ADAGE – Hily has increased its brand marketing budget from $500K to $3M since Julia Kolesnyk joined two years ago. She built its marketing operation from scratch and now leads a 13-person team. With less money than larger dating apps, Hily is focusing on YouTube rather than expensive TV advertising. Its latest campaign promotes authentic dating profiles without AI-generated enhancements.
BENZINGA – Grindr generates $3M in revenue per employee. The platform outperforms both Meta and Apple, which each sit at $2.5M. It also easily surpasses Alphabet with $2.1M in revenue per employee, and Microsoft with $1.5M. In an interview with the Financial Times, Grindr CEO George Arison detailed plans for a luxury tier designed as a “social club for the modern gay man,” targeting “people who have significant disposable income and who value their time in a very significant way.”
CNN – Dating apps are turning to IRL events to bring users together. Surf, a dating app focused on shared interests and fitness, runs blind dates through its partnership with Hyrox. Breeze, a Dutch dating app with no in-app chat, arranges dates at partner bars and group dates for six to ten people. Feeld, a dating app for non-monogamy, polyamory and kink, also organises in-person activities for its members.
STORYBOARD 18 – Anthropic found that a China-based studio had used its Claude AI to operate ~ 4,700 fake profiles across 20 dating apps. ~75% of the profiles shown to users were AI personas, which exchanged 2M+ messages with 25K people in two weeks. Human workers handled video calls and social-media follow-backs to make the profiles appear real. Anthropic banned the accounts and reported the apps to Apple and Google.