In the not-too-distant future, Grindr’s 14 million users will pull out their phones, open the app, and discover that everything has changed.

Grindr, the app that has become a cultural touchstone for the LGBTQ+ community, has long been a virtual meeting place primarily for gay, bi, and trans men looking for hookups. Soon enough, an AI chatbot will become an all-knowing, all-seeing go-between.

Perhaps Grindr’s CEO, George Arison, said it best: “This is not just a hookup product anymore.”

In January, Grindr announced six new AI-powered features in its 2025 Product Roadmap. The features, which will include personalized matches, travel products, and global hotspots, “are designed to give you even more ways to connect and ensure your Grindr experience is as meaningful and aligned with your intentions as possible.”

But it’s Grindr’s AI Wingman that just may change the way people use the app forever.

What Does an AI Wingman Do, Exactly? 

Grindr has grand — if vague — plans for Grindr. Arison told The Wall Street Journal that one goal is for the AI to make high-quality matches and analyze chats to determine compatibility. Another goal: For one user’s AI Wingman to interface with another user’s AI Wingman to learn about them and suggest complementary conversation topics.

He suggested that an accessible and approachable AI Wingman could encourage users to seek out even deeper connections, and even serve as a companion. An empathetic AI chatbot could be the faceless confidant some people in the LGBTQ+ community need, Arison pointed out. “Loneliness and depression are a really big problem in our community,” he said.

The AI Wingman could remind users of past connections, encourage flirting, and help people find authentic, long-lasting romance — a far cry from the hookup culture the app has largely been known for.

This is why Grindr partnered with AI model and avatar maker, Ex-human. Ex-human is creating the first “empathetic AI technology” — an oxymoron to some, but a thrilling technological possibility for others — that will sound “more gay” to appeal to more Grindr users.

Friendliness, flexibility, and perceptiveness: three qualities every wingman needs to have, and Grindr plans on integrating them into its AI Wingman.

Looming Privacy Concerns Amid Current Controversies

The idea is that users are their most honest, vulnerable selves in private messages, and not on their profile. By analyzing a user’s private messages in addition to their standard profile, the AI Wingman can facilitate more accurate matches — with user permission, of course.

It’s no secret that Grindr sold sensitive user information to ad networks between 2017 and 2020. When Arison took the helm in 2022, Grindr users, particularly those who have kept their LGBTQ+ identities a secret to protect themselves from discrimination and hate, were more distrustful about the app than ever. Now throw an AI chatbot in the mix, one that Grindr hopes will have extensive knowledge of a user’s profile, likes, dislikes, and private chat history, and it makes sense why some Grindr users are hesitant about the new technology.

Yes, users can opt out of sharing their personal information and private messages with the AI Wingman. However, modernization has not always led to user satisfaction on Grindr. In 2024, critics didn’t hold back when paywalls and glitchy chats interfered with the app’s ease of use. “We are aware that our users have experienced technical challenges on Grindr,” a spokesperson told Mashable.

Bringing an AI chatbot into the mix is yet another innovation that, some believe, has less to do with consumer satisfaction and more to do with profit.

AI Might Be a “Band-Aid For Bigger Problems”

Only a select few (thousand) have tried the chatbot firsthand, but that hasn’t stopped Grindr users from sharing their feelings about the wingman. To see how everyday people feel about the prospect of AI on Grindr, we checked in with people on the ground — Reddit, in other words.

u/Curious_Internet_670 described the AI Wingman as “a bandaid for bigger problems”: “Adding an AI isn’t going to fix why people feel burned out from these apps,” they wrote. “If anything, it’ll make them feel worse.” Arison may see an AI Wingman as a helpful tool for shy flirters, but this Reddit and Grindr user didn’t agree. He added, “If we’re letting AI flirt for us, how are we supposed to connect with people for real?”

Another Redditor, u/CP3O-stan-account, simply wrote, “We don’t want this,” a sentiment mirrored by many other Reddit/Grindr users. u/Windowlever suggested that Grindr should focus more on its everyday bugs and glitches than on an expensive AI project: “Grindr should aim to build an app that actually works in terms of functionality.”

These Grindr users may feel like Grindr is getting too big for its britches, but Arison suggested that these changes are necessary if the app hopes to remain competitive. After all, Grindr’s chatbot represents an industry-wide shift to AI-enhanced interactions on dating apps.

For Better or for Worse, the Future Is AI

Arison told WSJ, “I always knew that AI was going to be a really big deal, and as we saw where generative AI was going, I realized, ‘A lot of this extension stuff can actually be done by AI’.” Other dating apps have noticed, too; Tinder, Bumble, and Hinge all use AI chatbots to generate pickup lines, write interesting profiles, and give standard flirting advice. If Grindr’s AI Wingman comes to fruition, it could be one of the more intuitive and personable chatbots in the world of dating apps.

But as Arison himself said, the AI Wingman has a long way to go before it’s ready to leave beta testing. About 10,000 users will beta test the AI Wingman in 2025. Grindr plans on making the AI Wingman available to all users by 2027 at the latest.

Like some of Grindr’s more outspoken users, Arison is cautiously optimistic about what an AI Wingman and other AI advancements could mean for Grindr. “We don’t expect all of these things to take off… some of them will, and some won’t.”

Grindr’s AI Wingman may not be available for another few years, but Grindr has made its newfound focus on AI advancements clear. As a leader in the LGBTQ+ dating app world, Grindr doesn’t plan on being left in AI’s dust.