GoKawiil
Tech News
Grindr's CEO George Arison has outlined plans to rebuild the dating app around artificial intelligence, aiming to make it 'AI native' throughout. The vision includes AI-driven matching to suggest potential partners and AI tools that help prioritize which incoming messages users should see first.
In a Fast Company interview, Grindr CEO and Chairman George Arison discussed how the company is investing heavily in artificial intelligence to expand beyond its core dating app business. Arison pointed to strong recent financial performance, including 38% year-over-year revenue growth in the first quarter, as evidence the strategy is gaining traction.
Grindr has agreed to pay £26m to resolve a High Court class action brought by more than 11,000 claimants who alleged the dating app shared sensitive personal data, including HIV status, with third parties. The company will pay £13m by the end of this year and another £13m by March 2027, admitting no liability. Grindr says the allegations concern data practices before 2020, when the app was owned by China's Kunlun.
Grindr, under CEO George Arison since 2022, has grown revenue from $195 million to a guided $540 million-plus this year while keeping adjusted EBITDA margins above 40%, mostly by charging existing users more rather than expanding its user base. The company is now expanding beyond dating into healthcare services and travel features, and plans to launch a pricier 'EDGE' subscription tier later this year that has already drawn criticism online. Arison also argues that institutional investors continue to undervalue Grindr's stock because of stigma tied to being a gay dating app.
Derek Chadwick, cofounder of the gay dating app Goose, has resigned after reports surfaced that the platform used fake, AI-generated influencer accounts on Instagram to lure users into signing up. Chadwick announced his departure on Instagram, citing a divergence between his personal vision and the company's direction, without directly admitting wrongdoing. The exit follows a Wired investigation revealing suspicious accounts with AI-generated photos and unusual follower patterns tied to Goose's marketing.