“Criminal culpability is not determined by the instruments people employ but by the intent and conduct of the actor.”
Day: August 20, 2025
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- Hinge uses AI to enhance dating, but doesn’t want chatbots to become partners.
- Owned by Match Group, Hinge uses AI for personalized matches and profile improvement.
- Hinge’s success is boosting confidence in dating apps, with 18% user growth and $168M revenue in Q2.
Hinge is using AI to help you find better dates, but the company doesn’t want you dating bots.
“I don’t think that an AI chatbot should be your friend or certainly not your boyfriend or girlfriend,” Hinge CEO Justin McLeod said in an episode of the “Rapid Response” podcast published on Tuesday.
In contrast, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on a May podcast that the average American now has fewer than three close friends and that digital chatbots could help cure this “loneliness epidemic.”
Hinge is owned by Match Group, which also operates dating apps like Tinder and OKCupid. In 2018, Match acquired Hinge, which McLeod cofounded in 2011.
“One of our principles around AI is that it really should stand behind us and not between us,” McLeod said.
He said the app is designed so that users can have better interactions on the app and meet in person faster.
“But it certainly shouldn’t be something that we start engaging with as an end in itself just for entertainment or, I would say, artificial intimacy or artificial connection.”
Hinge’s website says that the company uses AI in two main ways. It recommends personalized matches based on each dater’s previous interactions and preferences, such as age, distance, and family plans. AI also helps users improve their profiles and makes it easier to start conversations.
“We don’t want to put words in their mouths,“ McLeod said on the podcast. “It’s just recognizing that someone’s answer to a prompt could give us more detail. And honestly usually the response is, ‘Can you say more about that,’ or ‘Tell a little bit more why that’s true.'”
On Wednesday, Business Insider created a new profile on the app and used the AI feature to ask for feedback on our answers to conversation-starting prompts. We found one instance of the AI asking to improve responses, and another where it complimented our answer for being fun and interesting.
Hinge’s prompt: “Together we could” Our response: “Learn a sport together.” AI suggestion: “Try a small change. If you want to add more, consider sharing which sport you’d like to learn or asking about their favourite sports.” Hinge’s prompt: “I’m weirdly attracted to” Our response: “People very passionate about long, nerdy movie franchises” AI suggestion: “Great prompt! It showcases your unique interests and invites fun conversations.”
Match Group did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Hinge is ‘crushing it’
Hinge has become a bright spot in the dating app industry, which is struggling to compete with app fatigue and the growing preference for in-person interactions.
On an earnings call earlier this month, Match Group CEO Spencer Rascoff said that Hinge is an example of what can be achieved with a motivated team and a great product.
“Simply put, Hinge is crushing it,” Rascoff said. “Hinge’s success should put to rest any doubts about whether the online dating category is out of favor among users.”
“Hinge’s success gives me pride in Hinge, but also confidence in Tinder,” the Match CEO added.
The dating app’s paying users grew by 18% year over year to 1.7 million, and revenue per paying user grew 6% to nearly $32. Hinge generated $168 million in revenue in the second quarter, a 25% increase from the same time last year.
Read the original article on Business Insider
Visit to Delhi by Wang Yi, China’s top diplomat, has seen both countries agree to resume trade ties and work towards resolving border dispute
India’s prime minister and China’s foreign minister have hailed “steady” progress in their countries’ fractious relationship, agreeing to resume trade and other ties, as well as work towards resolving the long-running Himalayan border dispute, amid a global geopolitical shake-up instigated by Donald Trump’s tariff regime.
According to statements from China’s foreign ministry, the two sides agreed to resume direct flights – reiterating a pledge made in January – as well as issuing visas to journalists and facilitating business and cultural exchanges.
Under the new laws in Malaysia’s Terengganu state, first-time offenders could be imprisoned for up to two years and fined
The Malaysian state of Terengganu has threatened to jail men who skip Friday prayers without a valid reason for up to two years.
Under sharia law in the Malaysian province, first-time offenders could be imprisoned for up to two years, and fined 3,000 ringgit (£527), or both, according to new rules that came into effect this week.
A crew of mice, flies, and ants, to be used for biomedical research in space, are on board a spacecraft that Russia is preparing to launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
On other missions, the rocket typically rolls to the launch pad a few days before launch. On this one, however, a Soyuz rocket that will hoist the Bion-M No. 2 biosatellite into orbit rolled out on Tuesday, one day ahead of the scheduled lift-off.
“This is due to the preservation of the biological samples on board,” said Roscosmos, Russia’s space agency. “The goal is to reach weightlessness as quickly as possible.”
The purpose of sending mice to space is to evaluate the impact of radiation and zero gravity on the rodents, including whether time in space affects their hormonal balance, immunity, reproductive processes, and metabolism. Russia has conducted similar missions in the past, including the Bion-M No.1 satellite launch in 2013 that ferried mice, gerbils, snails, and fish to space. The Bion-M No. 2 mission has been delayed multiple times in recent years.
Such experiments could help prepare humans for long-term space travel. Mice have a genetic similarity to humans, and their short life cycle allows for the tracking of changes across generations, according to Roscosmos.
During the 30-day mission of the Bion-M No. 2, “scientists will receive real-time data on the rodents’ condition using special cameras and sensors inside the mouse boxes. Moreover, some individuals will have implanted chips,” the space agency said.
It said the living conditions of the dozens of mice on the satellite resemble a “miniature hotel” in which they have feeding, lighting, ventilation, and waste disposal systems. The accommodation is more spacious than it was for the mice on the Bion-M No. 1 satellite more than a decade ago.
Fruit flies, ants, tomato seeds and fungi are also on this week’s space-bound mission. The tomato seeds, part of an experiment being conducted by Russian and Belarusian schoolchildren, will be planted on Earth after the space mission to see how they grow.