Tinder owner Match Group is slowing its hiring process to pay for its increasing use of artificial intelligence tools

You might think that the big story of Match Group’s first-quarter earnings was Tinder’s turnaround. Dating app revenue is up slightly again after quarter after quarter of declines.

But we’d like to point out a comment the CFO made about how the company is slow to hire right now because it needs more money to pay for AI tools for its employees.

Ah, yes, a good “let’s blame the AI” strategy!

Speaking to analysts on a first-quarter earnings call, Match Group CFO Stephen Bailey talked about how the dating app giant has invested in AI technology for internal use at the company — as well as how Match has been paying for it.

“We’re making a big push into enabling AI. We’re giving every employee in the company access to all the cutting-edge tools. We’re giving them the training they need to succeed. We’re setting expectations. We really want to be an AI-driven company,” Bailey said.

“We think it’s a tremendous opportunity. But these tools cost a lot of money, as I’m sure you know, and so the way we’re helping pay for that is by slowing down our hiring plans for the rest of the year,” he added.

The company assured investors that the impact will be cost neutral, as slower hiring and lower headcount will offset increased software expenses. Additionally, Match Group is betting that increased productivity resulting from employees’ use of AI will ultimately lead to increased revenue growth, the numbers analyst explained.

Although on the surface this seems like another example of AI taking people’s jobs — in this case, forcing a company to reduce the number of open jobs — there is likely more nuance to this story.

Let’s keep in mind that Match Group’s flagship app, Tinder, has been struggling in recent years. This quarter could be the beginning of a turnaround, as the number of monthly active users fell 7% in March compared to a sharp 10% decline last year. Tinder registrations also grew for the first time since 2024, but only by 1%, Bloomberg noted.

Maybe this is a positive sign for Tinder. Or it may just be a quick mention driven by users’ curiosity about various product improvements and new features, such as IRL events. Time will tell.

Dating meets generational shift

Match Group is still a company that has to work to make more money from a dwindling, less active user base — which, to the company’s credit, it has done just that. Match’s revenue was $864 million in the first quarter, up 4% year over year. However, its estimates for next quarter come in lower — around $850 million to $860 million, down 2% to a flat level year over year.

All of these struggles come after several months of what appears to be a growing disinterest in the use of dating apps by young people. This generational shift sees people choosing to meet up in real life, perhaps by pursuing an interest, such as running, book clubs or a hobby that connects them with other people, which in turn expands their network, increasing their chance of meeting someone new.

This trend coincides with the resurgence of nostalgic technology, such as digital cameras, flip phones, radios, and even landlines, signaling a generation that feels fatigued by constant connectivity and seeks analogue pleasures.

Match Group recognizes this major shift and says it is focused on meeting the challenge by increasing the number of its IRL events.

“Gen Z desperately wants to connect. They know they want to meet new people. They just want to do it in a low-pressure, low-risk way that doesn’t feel like a job interview,” Match CFO Spencer Rascoff told investors on the call. “Traditional dating apps are very structured and can be intimidating for a user under 30. So, I think the growth of these alternative ways to meet new people shows how Generation Z is trying to find less stressful ways to connect.”

“We have clearly adapted our roadmap to this reality,” he said.