Bumble, the second most-used dating app globally, is eliminating the swipe gesture in favour of AI-driven matchmaking as part of a major relaunch planned for later this year. CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd announced the shift to Axios on Wednesday, describing it as a revolutionary change for the category.
“We are going to be saying goodbye to the swipe and hello to something that I believe is revolutionary for the category,” Wolfe Herd said. She cited user fatigue, noting that people feel the swipe has degraded their love lives. The new system will allow users to express interest in a person's story rather than just their profile, aiming to spark better conversations and drive engagement.
Bumble will also end its policy of requiring women to initiate conversations. “We will not force one gender over another to do something first,” Wolfe Herd stated, though she insisted the app would preserve the essence of women making the first move. The overhaul comes after several lackluster quarters; Bumble's paid users dropped 21% to 3.2 million in the first quarter of 2026, down from 4 million last year.
Wolfe Herd described the decline as a “deliberate reset” focused on quality over quantity. Despite the drop, Bumble reported better-than-expected earnings for the fourth quarter, with average revenue per paying user increasing 7.9% to $22.20. The new Bumble will roll out in limited markets in the fourth quarter, with no timeline for a broader release.
