Hinge CEO quits $1B job for AI gamble | | India says it’s fine | Frankel joins dating circus

Hinge founder walks away from billion-dollar baby to build AI dating app

Justin McLeod spent 14 years building Hinge into a near-$1 billion revenue dating app, and just announced he’s leaving to start over with Overtone—an AI dating service using voice tools. Match Group is funding the new venture and taking a chunk of equity. Jackie Jantos, Hinge’s president and CMO, takes the CEO chair. McLeod says Overtone spent 2025 quietly developing inside Hinge before spinning out. So Match is essentially funding its own potential competitor, which is either brilliant hedging or expensive therapy for a restless founder. Either way, Match is betting $20-30M on AI being the future of dating apps. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/match-group-announces-leadership-transition-at-hinge-and-strategic-spinout-of-new-venture-overtone-302637158.html

Hinge adds AI to write your pickup lines because “hey” stopped working

Hinge rolled out Convo Starters—AI that suggests three openers when you like someone’s profile. See a chess photo? It’ll suggest talking board games instead of your usual “nice pic.” The dating app claims comments with likes get dates at twice the rate of silent likes, and 72% of users actually respond when you write something thoughtful. Early tests show 35% of people feel less awkward about messaging first. The feature won’t write your messages for you—just nudges you toward saying something better than “how’s your day going.” https://hinge.co/newsroom/convo-starters

Half of Indian singles fine with partners having AI companions—humans officially optional

Survey of Indian dating app users found 54% are cool with their partner emotionally bonding with AI. Another 63% think AI improves matchmaking accuracy. Gen Z is more skeptical than older users, probably because they’ve actually used ChatGPT and know it lies. The findings show AI is sliding into relationships whether we like it or not, though “chatfishing” remains a trust issue nobody’s solved yet. https://www.indiatoday.in/lifestyle/relationship/story/54-of-singles-are-okay-with-their-partner-bonding-with-ai-survey-2833393-2025-12-10

Match CEO says “AI can’t create chemistry” while writing $30M checks to AI startups

Match Group CEO Bernard Kim told Economic Times that AI will never replace human connection in online dating. “Technology can facilitate connections, but it can’t create chemistry,” he said. Meanwhile, Match is backing Overtone, building AI features into Tinder and Hinge, and spending millions on AI development. The contradiction isn’t subtle—Match wants AI to do everything except replace the part where humans actually meet. Smart positioning, considering Bumble’s Whitney Wolfe Herd already suggested AI should date on your behalf, which went over like a lead balloon. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/artificial-intelligence/ais-no-match-for-human-connection-tinder-parent-ceo/articleshow/125839669.cms

Bethenny Frankel launching exclusive dating app—because regular rejection wasn’t bougie enough

Reality TV entrepreneur Bethenny Frankel is building The Core, an invite-only dating platform for professionals. Think Raya but with more aggressive curation and AI matchmaking. Frankel says it’s about “quality over quantity” with strict verification. Launch planned for early 2026 in New York and LA. The premium dating space is getting crowded with celebrities trying to monetize exclusivity, which is hilarious given that most “exclusive” dating apps are just regular apps with higher prices and smaller user pools. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-12-03/bethenny-frankel-aims-to-reinvent-online-dating-with-exclusive-community

Matrimony.com stock jumps 14% on buyback news—arranged marriage business prints money

Indian matchmaking company Matrimony.com announced a potential share buyback and the stock popped 14%. The company runs Shaadi.com and BharatMatrimony, posted 18% revenue growth, and is swimming in cash. Turns out traditional matchmaking adapted to online dating better than anyone expected. Separately, competitor Shaadi.com is talking to banks about an IPO. The Indian matrimony market is consolidating while Western dating apps struggle with user fatigue. There’s a lesson there somewhere. https://tradebrains.in/matrimony-com-ltd-shares-jump-14-after-company-to-consider-share-buyback/

Grindr Unwrapped: 82% of profiles include zodiac signs, astrology wins

Grindr released its year-end stats showing 82% of users list their zodiac sign. “Vers” is the most common position preference, Sunday evenings see peak activity, and 🔥 was used 47 million times. São Paulo sends the most messages globally, New York has the densest user base, and 61% of users are open to long-distance. Wellness terms like “gym” and “hiking” increased 23% from 2024, meaning everyone’s either getting fit or getting better at lying about it. https://www.grindr.com/unwrapped

Date Draft delays launch to add feature that gamifies ghosting—because dating needed that

Dating app Date Draft pushed its launch from December to January 2026 to add a “Trade Room” where you can swap matches who ghosted you within 48 hours. CEO says beta users requested it. The app wants to solve ghosting by turning unresponsive matches into tradable commodities, which is either genius or the most cynical take on modern dating yet. Whether creating a secondary market for dead conversations fixes anything remains extremely unclear. https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2025/12/02/3197835/0/en/Date-Draft-Aims-to-Gamify-Ghosting-with-Revolutionary-Trade-Room-Feature-Shifts-Launch-to-January-2026-for-Enhanced-User-Experience.html

Keeper AI raises $4M to charge men $50,000 per marriage—wealthy singles’ problems require expensive solutions

AI matchmaking startup Keeper raised $4M pre-seed from Lightbank and Lakehouse Ventures to build what it calls “the world’s most effective AI matchmaker.” The pitch: one match at a time based on compatibility science, and if it works, men pay $50,000 for the marriage. Current model charges $5,000 per date (free for women) and claims 1-in-10 first dates lead to marriage. Keeper has 1.5M signups and is building toward full automation where dates cost $250 and marriage bounties drop to $5,000. CEO Jake Kozloski describes the startup as “friendly with the pronatalist movement,” which explains the pricing aimed at high-net-worth individuals who want kids. The dating app market’s lowest NPS score means there’s room for disruption, but whether charging Wall Street salaries for matchmaking scales remains the question. https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-dating-app-keeper-raised-four-million-pitch-deck-2025-12

Curvestone AI raises $4M to teach robots compliance—dating apps taking notes

AI startup Curvestone closed $4M to build agents for regulated industries like fintech and healthcare. Not a dating company, but the tech matters for dating platforms dealing with verification, safety, and fraud. First Round Capital led the round, Y Combinator joined. As AI moderation becomes mandatory for dating apps, someone needs to figure out how to make bots follow rules without breaking them. Curvestone’s betting that’s a big business. https://siliconangle.com/2025/12/04/curvestone-ai-raises-4m-bring-reliable-agentic-automation-regulated-industries/

Tinder and Bumble make $3B while everyone else fights for scraps

Tinder pulled $1.9B in 2025 revenue, Bumble got $1.2B, Match.com took $800M, and Hinge crossed $400M for the first time. The data shows Match Group and Bumble Inc. own the market while Asian platforms like Pairs and Tantan grow regionally but can’t crack the global top 10. Western user growth is flat but monetization keeps climbing through premium tiers and AI features. Translation: fewer users paying more money. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1359421/top-grossing-dating-apps-worldwide/

BBC documentary shows how dating apps use psychology to keep you swiping

The BBC released “Dating Apps: The Inside Story” featuring former dating app employees explaining manipulation tactics. Variable reward schedules, curated match queues, notification patterns designed to build habits. The documentary sparked ethics debates while highlighting the balance apps need—keep users engaged but not so long they quit from frustration. If your app is too good at engagement, people hate it and leave. Fun paradox. https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m002n1t3/dating-apps-the-inside-story

Dating Pro publishes guide on testing your app before users roast it

Dating Pro dropped a comprehensive usability testing guide covering methodology, recruitment, and analysis. Key insight: test with 5-7 users per segment, not hundreds, because most problems show up fast. The guide walks through testing onboarding, profiles, matching, and messaging before launch. Includes templates and frameworks. Basic message: find out your swipe gesture sucks before you ship it, not after 10,000 one-star reviews. https://www.datingpro.com/blog/how-to-run-usability-testing-for-your-dating-app-prototype-methods-test-users-and-result-analysis/

Hinge promotes Jantos to CEO as McLeod exits—Bumble CMO joins the shuffle

Hinge elevated Jackie Jantos from president/CMO to CEO following Justin McLeod’s departure. Tamika Young, previously at Bumble, joins as CMO. Jantos ran the “No Ordinary Love” campaign and Gen Z expansion for four years. Young brings Bumble scaling experience. So Hinge’s new marketing chief comes from its main competitor, which is either smart hiring or everyone in this industry just trades jobs constantly. Probably both. https://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/hinge-promotes-jackie-jantos-to-ceo-tamika-young-becomes-cmo/

Tinder Year in Swipe: “demure” beats “hot” as personality trend—TikTok wins again

Tinder’s annual report shows “demure” appearing 39% more in 2025 profiles compared to 2024. The TikTok trend jumped straight to dating apps because of course it did. Other findings: hiking mentions up 28%, voice notes preferred by 67% of Gen Z, and Tuesday 9 PM is global peak swipe time. Users who list their love language get 23% more matches. The report confirms that whatever’s viral on social media will be in dating profiles within weeks, whether that’s good or terrible. https://au.tinderpressroom.com/2025-12-03-TINDERS-YEAR-IN-SWIPE-TM-2025