Grindr Inc. hopes to leverage artificial intelligence to help users make better matches, announcing new features for premium subscribers.
The West Hollywood-based LGBTQ+ dating platform announced Monday that its premium plan now offers access to new AI features and deeper personalization.
The company named its AI gAI, pronounced “gay-eye.” The company says this will be an “app-wide intelligence layer.”
“It’s not about ‘AI’ per se; it’s about fewer dead ends, less noise, and more real connections,” the company said in its annual product roadmap released Monday.
The company is also investing more in AI-powered safety tools and behind-the-scenes operations, CEO George Allison told Bloomberg. AI is already writing about 70% of the app’s code, he added.
“Grindr is becoming an AI-native or AI-first company,” he said. “We’re taking a traditional company that’s been around for 15 years or more and turning it into an AI company as if it was founded in the last two years.”
The new premium tier is currently available as part of a beta test in Australia, New Zealand, some US cities, and Canada, and is aimed at frequent users who want to spend less time scrolling. It focuses on helping users discover potential matches, determining whether those potential matches are likely to respond, and allowing users to track past conversations with previous matches.
This year, competitors announced AI-powered features aimed at attracting new users, especially Gen Z.
Last week, Bumble announced Bee, an AI-powered dating assistant. Tinder has introduced several new tools, including a real-time video speed-dating experience, an “Events” feature, and a redesigned “Music Mode” that brings users together through shared music tastes.
Another new tool coming to Grindr is the Health Center, which provides education on sexual health, heart and metabolic health, weight management, and hair loss solutions.
It will also feature wellness products such as medicines available through Grindr’s Woodwork program. The Health Center will be available to all users.
Grindr, which has come under intense scrutiny in the past for its handling of sensitive information including users’ HIV status, is trying to allay privacy concerns as it goes all-in on AI.
A February post introducing the new feature on Grindr’s company blog said users are “always in control” and can even turn off AI-powered features. Sensitive health data will be “categorically excluded” from the use of AI, the company said.
Separately, the company plans to use deep AI to power its Smart Inbox tool, which prioritizes conversations that are most likely to lead somewhere.
The company is exploring ways to apply lessons learned from previous chatbot tests to a new feature called Enhanced Search, which allows users to view profiles that better match their preferences. These features will be part of a separate paid tier for users in the future.
Grindr was a pioneering location-based dating app for gay men when it was launched in Los Angeles in 2009 by technology entrepreneur Joel Simkhai. The popular dating app later moved its headquarters to West Hollywood and was acquired by Chinese gaming company Kunlun Group Limited in 2016.
Grindr’s Chinese owners were hopeful that the company would go public, but in 2019 the U.S. government forced them to sell the company over concerns that the Chinese government could use sensitive data collected through the app against American citizens. In 2020, San Vicente Acquisitions acquired the company for $608 million.
Bloomberg’s Samantha Kelly contributed to this report.
