Bumble Debuts AI Dating Assistant 'Bee' to Refine User Connections

Bumble, the company behind the popular dating app, is now exploring generative AI technology. In its fourth-quarter earnings call on Wednesday, Bumble unveiled a new AI assistant named "Bee," designed to act as a personal matchmaker. Bee learns about users' values, relationship goals, communication preferences, lifestyle, and dating intentions through private conversations. These insights help the assistant suggest more relevant matches for each user.

According to Bumble founder and CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd, Bee is currently in an internal pilot phase, with a public beta launch planned soon.

Bee enables Bumble to gather richer information about its users by understanding their personal stories and preferences. This positions Bumble differently from competitors like Tinder, which recently revamped its platform amid slowing engagement from Gen Z users.

Users will interact with Bee much like other AI chatbots—through text and voice in a conversational style.

Image Credits:Bumble

Initially, Bee will support a new feature called "Dates," where it uses AI to recommend potential matches. Over time, Bee could expand into other areas, such as proposing date ideas or gathering anonymous feedback from past matches.

In the "Dates" experience, Bee starts by learning about the user through a private onboarding chat. It then identifies two individuals with shared intentions, values, and relationship goals. Both users receive a notification explaining why they are a good match.

This update is part of a broader tech and AI-driven transformation for Bumble, which has historically emphasized features that support women. The app introduced innovations like requiring women to message first, banning body-shaming, and blurring unsolicited explicit images.

Image Credits:Bumble

Now, Bumble aims to leverage AI to re-ignite user growth, especially as younger users—particularly from Gen Z—grow weary of swiping.

Herd noted that Bumble may test removing the swipe mechanism in certain markets. Instead of relying on binary yes/no swipes, the app will focus on features like "chapter-based" profiles, where users share different parts of their life story. This provides more data to fuel Bumble’s AI and matching algorithms.

"We plan to introduce more engaging ways for users to express interest in someone’s story, not just their profile. This will drive richer engagement, better conversations, and improved KPIs across the platform," Wolfe Herd explained. "We’re also taking a more deliberate approach to moving conversations offline, rather than letting them stall in endless chat loops."

Bumble is also exploring ways to better serve Gen Z users, who often prefer group social settings over traditional one-on-one dating.

The company has integrated AI into its app over several years, including tools for photo selection, user feedback, and safety enhancements. Wolfe Herd shared that Bumble's backend infrastructure has been upgraded to support these AI-driven features.

Bumble reported stronger-than-expected Q4 earnings, with revenue reaching $224.2 million and average revenue per paying user increasing 7.9% to $22.20. Following the announcement, the company’s stock surged by approximately 40%.