Bumble

Dating app Bumble publicly apologized after its new ad campaign about letting go of celibacy was not well-received.

The company debuted billboard ads reading: “You know full well a vow of celibacy is not the answer” juxtaposed against an introduction to “the new Bumble.” This was part of a brand redesign promotion, according to AP.

The ad appeared tone deaf to many women, some referring to it as “anti-choice” during a time when women’s decisions and control over their bodies are being taken away in the wake of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision regarding abortion. When the Bumble ad seemed to be telling them what to do with their bodies, coming from a dating app with a reputation that puts women first, it sparked outrage.

Founder and former CEO of Bumble Whitney Wolfe Herd told audiences at the Bloomberg Technology Summit that dating apps should lean heavily into AI, including chatbots that can advise users and even go on dates for them.

Herd, who stepped down last year, noted that Bumble will use AI "to help create more healthy and equitable" dating experience, according to Gizmodo.

“You could, in the near future, be talking to your AI dating concierge. You could share your insecurities,” Wolfe Herd said on stage at the Summit, according to Gizmodo. “There is a world where your dating concierge could go and date for you with other dating concierges.”

Bumble has unveiled the newest feature of its dating app, removing the requirement for women to make the first move with their matches. The app’s new CEO Lidiane Jones said that this is part of a larger relaunch of the app.

Until now, Bumble has required women to send the first message to a potential match, keeping them in control of who they want to communicate with. Now, the dating app has jettisoned its requirement to automate the process with the launch of “Opening Moves,” which lets female users choose from a list of prompts where matches can reply and start a conversation themselves. (Women can also create their own prompts.)

For same-gender and non-binary users, they can either set or respond to an Opening Move.

A new study from the research team at Mozilla has found that dating apps are collecting and selling more information than its users might be aware of.

According to The Washington Post, Mozilla found that 80 percent of the dating apps they reviewed – which include popular apps like Tinder, Bumble, and Hinge among others – may share the personal data of users with their advertisers. In fact, the privacy policies that users must agree with to use these platforms make it clear that their personal information could be sold. But how many are reading the fine print?

Spark Networks’ privacy policy was particularly specific and alarming for its apps JDate, Christian Mingle and Elite Singles. It stated that the apps might collect “sensitive information” including political affiliation, union memberships, and your “sexual preferences and experiences,” according to the Post.

Bumble is giving 50 couples who met on its app a free wedding in Las Vegas.

According to People Magazine, the company announced its plan to celebrate couples who met via its platform with a free wedding, travel included. For one weekend, Bumble has rented out the famous Little White Chapel in Las Vegas and is turning it into a branded wedding venue for 50 lucky couples.

The chapel itself will be decorated in Bumble yellow, which the company is calling Little Yellow Chapel for the wedding weekend. The famous venue has hosted many celebrity weddings, including Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck in 2022, as well as Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner in 2019, according to People.

Bumble CEO Lidiane Jones sat down with Tech Crunch to discuss women on the platform no longer making the first move, potential new safety features, AI, and other plans to enhance the app.

In a recent interview Jones shared that she is reconsidering the basic premise of Bumble: that women make the first move. Instead, she said that women should be given the choice of whether they want to make the first move or not, giving them more control in their dating experience.

Jones assured Tech Crunch that her goal of empowering women on the platform remains steadfast: “Our brand awareness is so high, it’s amazing. And if you ask anybody about Bumble, they’ll say it’s about women, and the core of that is not changing. We are a company that really cares about women’s empowerment.”