Bumble CEO Pitches Emotionally Intelligent AI Matchmaking App

Whitney Wolfe Herd, founder of Bumble and co-founder of Tinder, is leading an initiative at Bumble to launch a standalone, AI-driven dating app designed to go beyond superficial swipes and profiles. The concept, unveiled during a Wall Street Journal interview, aims to build “the world’s smartest and most emotionally intelligent matchmaker in existence” by leveraging advanced AI, including large language models and attachment theory, alongside insights from psychologists and relationship experts.

Since returning as CEO in March 2025, Wolfe Herd has spearheaded this project under wraps. The service is intended to construct user profiles based on emotional history – including past relationships, breakups, and dating experiences – and generate matching suggestions that align more deeply with users’ relational needs. By shifting focus from visual or demographic filters to emotional intelligence, the app could offer a fundamentally different matchmaking experience.

This includes deep-cutting questions like “what is it about your last breakup that hurt you, that you don’t want to repeat in a future relationship?”, rather than being simple questions about hobbies or preferences. The idea is to use large language model technology to communicate with users in a realistic way, with the AI making users properly open up across multiple sessions and get custom-made profiles that represent them properly.

Bumble plans to release a beta version of this new app in fall 2025, separate from its existing platform. The new offering could handle everything from profile generation and match recommendations to date scheduling assistance – though monetisation and match-volume strategies remain undecided.