Grindr is developing an AI-powered "wingman" chatbot tailored specifically for its gay user base, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal. Users will interact with this chatbot as a conversational assistant within the app.
Currently, a small test group is trialing the feature, with plans to expand the beta to 1,000 users by the end of 2024 and 10,000 in 2025, Grindr CEO George Arison shared in the WSJ interview. The ultimate goal is to roll out the AI chatbot to Grindr's 14 million users globally by 2027 at the latest.
The AI wingman is designed to enhance the Grindr experience by keeping track of users' favorite matches and offering suggestions, from potential long-term relationship candidates to ideal date spots, according to The Wall Street Journal. Future updates may even include features like making restaurant reservations and interacting with other AI wingmen to provide users with a "robust view" of each other before meeting in person.
However, The Wall Street Journal raised some early concerns about the feature. Grindr must address potential privacy and safety risks, particularly in regions where it’s unsafe to be openly gay. The company’s history of selling user location data through ad networks also raises questions about how AI data might pose additional privacy threats.
According to WSJ, a proposed solution lies in developing "empathetic AI technology" through a partnership with the AI model company Ex-human, which Grindr collaborated with last year. Ex-human is reportedly designing a model specifically trained on romantic conversations and tailored to be "more gay."
However, it remains unclear how this approach will address the significant privacy and safety concerns raised, particularly in areas where being openly gay is risky or illegal. The implementation of such models will need to carefully balance personalization with robust data protection measures.
Beyond the potential privacy and safety concerns, Grindr is also grappling with user dissatisfaction over growing product issues and paywalls. In a statement to Mashable earlier this month, a Grindr spokesperson acknowledged the frustration, saying, "Since a major investment in modernizing our chat platform earlier this year, we are aware that our users have experienced technical challenges on Grindr."
This raises questions about how the app's current infrastructure will handle the addition of a chatbot, and how users will respond to it. Notably, when Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd floated the idea of an "AI dating concierge" in an interview in May, the reaction was overwhelmingly negative. Given Grindr's reputation for quick hookups — described by VICE in 2022 as a "24/7 merry-go-round of sex in your immediate locale" — many users may resist the idea of an AI bot interfering with their pursuit of instant connections.
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As the dating and hookup app space evolves, it remains to be seen how Grindr's innovations, like the AI wingman, will fare against competitors and user expectations
