Justin McLeod, the CEO of Hinge, is stepping down from his role to launch a new AI dating product called Overtone. Match Group, the dating giant that owns apps like Hinge, Tinder, and OkCupid, is backing Overtone with pre-seed financing and plans to take a substantial ownership position. With Match’s support, Overtone was incubated as a project inside of Hinge. McLeod and a dedicated team spent the past year developing the idea, which is described as an early-stage dating service focused on using AI and voice tools to help people connect in a more thoughtful and personal way.
McLeod isn’t the only dating app founder branching out into new, standalone AI experiences. Whitney Wolfe Herd, founder of Bumble, has said she wants to use AI to make the world’s smartest and most emotionally intelligent matchmaker. Last year, she notably proposed the idea of singles using AI to stand-in for themselves and date other people’s AIs.
It is not yet clear how Overtone will differentiate itself from other dating apps, which have been experimenting with AI features to compensate for the market’s growing malaise with online dating, especially among Gen Z. Tinder has reported nine straight quarters of paying-subscriber declines and has leaned into AI with features intended to help users get more matches. Hinge itself just launched an AI feature this week called “Convo Starters,” which is supposed to help daters move beyond boring small talk. Both Tinder and Facebook Dating have each experimented with AI-powered matching to combat swipe fatigue.
Other attempts at integrating AI into dating apps raise further questions. Match CEO Spencer Rascoff said last month that a major pillar of Tinder’s upcoming 2026 product experience will be a feature called Chemistry. With the user’s permission, this feature will access users’ camera rolls to learn more about them.
McLeod founded Hinge in 2011 as a dating app with a greater focus on building relationships than facilitating casual dates. The app, which is on track to hit $1 billion in revenue by 2027, was acquired by Match in 2019. Jackie Jantos, Hinge’s president and chief marketing officer, will take over as CEO. McLeod will remain in an advisory position at Hinge through March.
This summer, Jantos spoke about how Hinge will address Gen Z, a market growing increasingly disillusioned with meeting people online. She stated that this is a generation with a deep understanding of how digital experiences are created and what they are trying to achieve. According to Jantos, Gen Z wants transparency and authenticity from digital brands. While some might see this as incompatible with a growing reliance on AI, Hinge’s own AI recommendation feature, launched in March, drove a 15% increase in matches and contact exchanges in the first quarter of this year.
Based on Jantos’ comments upon assuming her new role, it seems Hinge will continue investing in these features under her leadership. She stated that the focus will remain on intentional innovation grounded in culture, creativity, and a deep understanding of how people connect today.