How does an adults-only ChatGPT setting sound to you?
Sam Altman said on X that this new artificial intelligence dating feature will launch this December, joining the recent trend of dating apps powered by AI.
Meta, for instance, said it would be expanding Facebook Dating by adding an AI dating assistant in September. The Instagram and Facebook giant wants to compete with dating appx like Tinder, Bumble, and Hinge, all of which have already incorporated AI.
These moves have sparked a vocal public response on social media:
“2023: AI will cure cancer. 2025: soon we will achieve AI erotica for verified adults,” said user Dr J Rould on X.
Altman was quick to qualify his statement following the response:
“As AI becomes more important in people’s lives, allowing a lot of freedom for people to use AI in the ways that they want is an important part of our mission… But we are not the elected moral police of the world. In the same way that society differentiates other appropriate boundaries (R-rated movies, for example), we want to do a similar thing here.” – OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on X
Ok, but what exactly will ChatGPT’s adult-mode look like? I thought you’d never ask (kidding, what a world):
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The new setting is really an extension of a slew of age-gated settings to begin rolling out “a few weeks” from today. The adults-only variant will specifically allow ChatGPT to have “a personality that behaves more like what people liked about 4o,” said Altman. It will only be available to verified adults.
While going on a date with ChatGPT might seem dystopian, AI is already infiltrating our lives in ways we wouldn’t expect.
AI presence in dating apps
Name a dating app you’ve heard of. Chances are, it has some kind of AI feature.
Top 5 dating apps by revenue in 2025 per Sensor Tower:
SensorTower
Depending on who you ask, dating apps are currently either dying or thriving. Regardless of where you fall on that spectrum, the reality is that they are increasingly relying on AI innovations to beat their competition.
“Today, people use artificial intelligence to write their grocery lists, college term papers, and résumés; it was only a matter of time before it became part of the search for love,” writes Annie Louie Sussman of The Cut. “People use AI to write their dating profiles and to practice flirting, as conversational aides and dating coaches. Dating apps are integrating AI features that can help users pick the right photos or urge them to expand on a reply or tone down the creepiness.”
No matter the specific functionality, the growing presence of AI in dating apps has been supercharged by a new global trend in the industry.
Dating app’s anti-swipe moment
Oft-mocked but used even more, the swipe was the great early innovation of the dating app. Now, its popularity may be waning, especially with Gen Z users.
Check out the decline in value over the last four years for Match Group and Bumble, the two publicly traded heavyweights in the field.
FactSet/Sherwood News
A recent report cites ‘swipe-fatigue’ and a desire for more curated matches as a potential cause of this decline.
Match and Bumble might be wise to listen to these demands if they want to remain at the top.
Both brands have recently seen executive turnover in search of a solution. Bumble reinstated its founder, Whitney Wolfe Herd, as CEO in January, and the Match Group pulled in Zillow’s Spencer Rascoff for its top spot in February. Wolfe Herd discussed the swiping issue in Bumble’s Q2 earnings call:
If you were to swipe through 100 people you never wanted to meet, you would walk away feeling very, very disappointed.
– Bumble CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd
The trend away from swiping has been spearheaded by insurgent, newer-on-the-scene apps like Cerca, Raya, and, believe it or not, Facebook Dating .
Cerca’s approach matches based on mutual friends, Raya creates a sense of exclusivity because it requires a referral, and Facebook Dating eschews swiping for AI and algorithm-driven date recommendations.
More AI:
- The stock market laughed, then Palantir redefined the fight
- Goldman Sachs tweaks Nvidia’s stock price target with a twist
- Jeff Bezos sends blunt message on AI bubble
Regardless of the numbers, legacy brands are in a fight as they battle not only each other but also AI chatbots like ChatGPT.
AI may be part of the answer if they want to keep up with these upstarts. But, they’ll have to back it up with good, old-fashioned reading of the trend tea leaves to make sure their integrations lead to features today’s users actually enjoy.
Related: Why Nvidia’s Vera Rubin may unleash another AI wave
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