Grindr's AI Gamble: Users Alarmed as App Proposes Training Models on Personal Chats
What Grindr announced
Grindr has introduced a suite of artificial intelligence features and revealed plans to train its generative AI, nicknamed ‘gAI’ (pronounced ‘gay-I’), on data sourced from its user community. The rollout surfaced in a push notification that prompted many users to hunt for an opt-out option in settings.
Users scrambling to opt out
The notification left a portion of the community unsettled. For apps where personal interactions are the product, the idea that late-night swipes, private messages, and profile interactions could become training material for machine learning models feels invasive. Some users were able to toggle privacy settings quickly, while others complained that the opt-out path was hard to find and poorly communicated.
Product vision vs. user sentiment
Grindr is not alone in pushing for an ‘AI-native’ product approach. According to reporting from outlets like Fast Company, the company aims to fold AI into multiple layers of the product, from architecture to operations, rather than adding surface-level features. The company roadmap promises features such as chat summaries for premium subscribers and an ‘A-List’ to resurface past connections.
But the promise of AI-driven conveniences collides with user expectations. Longtime members already voice frustration over increased ads and product friction. Many feel that monetization efforts have degraded the quality of interactions and made meaningful connections harder to find.
Monetization, ’enshittification’, and trust
Critics draw the situation into a broader conversation about the tradeoffs between revenue and user experience. The term ’enshittification’ has been used to describe the gradual erosion of service quality as platforms prioritize shareholder value. In this light, integrating AI trained on user data can be seen as another step toward monetizing intimacy, particularly if the process lacks transparency and clear user consent.
Search Engine Roundtable and other observers note that large platforms introducing AI overlays can create confusing user experiences, and the same risk applies to dating apps. If AI features displace the organic, messy human elements that make dating apps meaningful, users may respond by disengaging.
Broader implications
The debate around Grindr’s AI move is not only about one product. It raises bigger questions about whose interests are served when personal data feeds commercial AI experiments. Users may gain conveniences like better matching or chat summaries, but they also give up a degree of privacy and control.
At stake is the balance between human connection and algorithmic efficiency. If dating platforms keep exchanging authenticity for predictive polish, the core appeal of spontaneous, imperfect interaction may be lost. For some, a quick opt-out will be enough. For others, this could mark a turning point in how they use — or abandon — apps that promise intimacy while monetizing it.