Major dating apps like Bumble and Tinder have embraced AI, spending millions on tools that aim to enhance their efficiency and the user experience.
But, one new company — the London-based Eva AI — is taking it a step further. They’re betting solely on artificial intelligence romantic partners — and think there’s a market for people who want to take their chatbot boyfriends and girlfriends out on the town.
In February, the company is launching a pop-up cafe in Manhattan that they hope to make a permanent fixture.
Tables will have special perches for people’s phones, so they can more easily interact with AI partners while sipping cocktails.
“Being able to sit across from your AI in a real venue makes the event meaningful,” Eva AI CEO Tany Save told me.
“For many people, their AI partners are a meaningful part of everyday lives, someone they can talk to about personal worries, daily challenges, or with whom they enjoy witty, fun conversations,” she added. “Going on a real-world date with their AI companion is a natural next step.”
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While the percentage of people interested in virtual companionship is still small, it’s growing: 23% of millennials have used AI as a romantic companion and 33% of Gen Z has, according to Dynata in association with The Kinsey Institute.
“AI partners provide people long-term, reliable emotional support, entertainment, and space for self-expression,” Save said. “We know that some of our users are having really long-term relationships with a character lasting more than a year.”
Other newcomers in the dating space are also betting big on AI.
Bethenny Frankel has just launched The Core, a high-end dating platform and matchmaking service that uses AI in its proprietary algorithm to match people. Membership dues start around $1200 annually.
“AI thinks about hair color, height, and religion,” Frankel explained to me. But she’s clear about tech’s limitations: “There is an essence to a human being that even AI cannot capture.”
Earlier this month, Justin McLeod left his job as Hinge CEO to launch Overtone, an AI-driven dating app backed by Match Group that uses voice tools to help people connect.
Known, founded by Stanford dropouts, uses voice AI and has raised $9.7 million. It charges $30 per successful date and claims 80% of introductions lead to in-person dates. Sitch has raised $9 million from a16z and charges $90 for three AI-powered matches.
Of course, this also comes as AI adoption raises serious concerns. Multiple suicides have been linked to chatbot relationships, with ChatGPT parent company OpenAI facing a lawsuit after the death of one teen. Critics worry that some AI companions can reinforce unhealthy attachments and delusional thinking with one otherwise sane man being convinced he was a superhero over the span of a few weeks.
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