Bumble founder gives chilling insight into the future of dating involving AI

Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd has revealed what she thinks the future of modern-day dating and how AI can assist as well empower young people. 

Herd, 34, gave an interview at the Bloomberg Tech Summit in San Francisco on May 9 where she spoke about how Bumble was focused on digital innovation while maintaining its ideologies. 

She also noted that AI could possibly help coach future users on how to date and present themselves in the best light to potential partners. 

Herd also presented a scenario during the interview wherein singles could use AI dating concierges as stand-ins while reaching out to prospective partners online. 

'If you want to get really out there, there is a world where your [AI] dating concierge could go and date for you with other dating concierge. 

'So, for example, you could in the near future be talking to your AI dating concierge and you could share your insecurities. 

'I've just come out of a break-up, I've got commitment issues,' and it could help you train yourself into a better way of thinking about yourself.

'Truly. And then you don't have to talk to 600 people. It will scan all of San Fransisco for you and say: "These are the three people you really outta meet,"' she told host Emily Chang. 

Herd further said that she wished for AI to help people 'create more healthy and equitable relationships.' 

She is married to Michael Herd, an oil and gas heir from Texas. They met on a skiing trip in Aspen and share two children together. 

A Bumble spokesperson later told NBC that the company can 'see a future where AI can continue to foster' positive relationships among people. 

'Bumble is a place to make safe, kind and authentic connections, helping people to meet online, to then take the connection offline,' the statement read. 

The spokesperson also confirmed that the company had already added in new AI-based elements in the dating app. 

Talking about the app's recent rebrand, Herd said, 'We will not be a dating app in a few years. 

'Dating will be a component, but we will be a true human connection platform. This is where you will meet anyone you want to meet — a hiking buddy, a mahjong buddy, whatever you're looking for.' 

These revelations come six months after the founder stepped down as CEO.

Herd founded Bumble nearly a decade ago at the age of 24 and turned it into a billion-dollar enterprise - and she will now remain at the company as an executive chair.  

The mom-of-two handed the role to seasoned tech and business executive Lidiane Jones, sending its shares down more than 8 percent in early trading on Monday.

Jones is the CEO of Salesforce-owned Slack and has held senior business roles at Microsoft where she spent more than 12 years. She will take over on January 2.

Over the years, Wolfe Herd has found herself surrounding by powerful women in her circle - including Meghan Markle, who she was seen with at a Katy Perry concert on the weekend, business behemoth Kris Jenner, and Lauren Sanchez.  

'Lidiane's expertise and track record in product and technology is exceptional,' said Wolfe Herd as the company looks to adopt artificial intelligence across its products.

Herd launched the company in 2014 after an acrimonious departure from Match Group-owned rival app Tinder, which she had co-founded. 

Bumble's eponymous app stood out in the industry by allowing women to make the first move.

In the recent years, Bumble, which counts Friends, Badoo, Fruitz (for Gen Z) and Official in its portfolio of dating services, has faced pressure to grow due to unrest in some markets like the Eastern Europe and competition from larger rival Match.

In 2020, her husband put his family’s three-home compound in Austin, Texas, on the market for $28.5 million. 

Wolfe Herd has received accolade after accolade for her work within the tech and dating app space. She was named one of Business Insider's 30 Most Important Women Under 30 In Tech in 2014.

And in 2016, she was named as one of Elle's Women in Tech, before receiving the recognition as Forbes 30 under 30 in 2017 and 2018.

In 2021, Wolfe Herd became the world's youngest self-made female billionaire after taking Bumble public. 

Forbes estimated her net worth at approximately $1.5 billion.