Popular dating app Bumble is killing off the iconic 'swipe' gesture and replacing it with AI-powered matchmaking, according to CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd. Speaking to Axios on Wednesday, Wolfe Herd revealed that the company will undergo a major relaunch later this year, shifting to an AI-driven system that aims to reduce user fatigue and improve match quality.
End of an Era: Swipe to Be Removed
“We are going to be saying goodbye to the swipe and hello to something that I believe is revolutionary for the category,” Wolfe Herd told Axios. The swipe gesture, popularized by Tinder, has become a hallmark of dating apps, but Bumble—the world's second most-used dating app—will now abandon it. Wolfe Herd cited user exhaustion: “People are feeling exhausted, they're feeling fatigued. They feel like the swipe has degraded their love lives.”
AI Matchmaking and the 'Bee' Assistant
Bumble plans to introduce an AI-dating assistant named 'Bee', which will learn users’ preferences and act as a personal matchmaker. The new feature is expected to roll out in a limited number of markets in the fourth quarter of 2026, with a broader release timeline yet to be announced. Wolfe Herd hinted at more dynamic ways for users to express interest: “We will be introducing more dynamic ways for somebody to express interest in your story, rather than just your profile, and this is going to drive more dynamic engagement, spark better conversation, and ultimately drive better KPIs across the board.”
Women-First Policy Scrapped
In another significant change, Bumble will end its policy of requiring women to initiate conversations. “We will not force one gender over another to do something first,” Wolfe Herd said, though she insisted the app would preserve “the essence of what was always meant to be women making the first move.”
Financial Context and User Decline
The overhaul comes after several lackluster quarters. In the first quarter of 2026, Bumble’s paid users dropped 21% to 3.2 million, down from 4 million the previous year. Wolfe Herd described this as a “deliberate reset” focused on quality over quantity. Despite the decline, average revenue per paying user rose 7.9% to $22.20, and the company reported better-than-expected earnings for the fourth quarter.
Bumble’s shift to AI matchmaking marks a bold departure from the swipe-based model that defined modern dating apps. Whether the new approach will reverse user decline remains to be seen.
