has been bought by investment firm for $1.3bn (£980m). The new owners called it .
and , directors of the buying firm, will become co-chief executives. They said they want to use technology to "renew and accelerate businesses...in a world transformed by AI".
The buyer's framing sits against a live argument about AI safety, in which some experts say the speed of development is itself a threat to humanity.
is loss-making. Since it became a public company it has made an annual only once, in 2023, and reported steep losses in the two years after that.
News of the deal pushed the share price up and lifted the company's valuation above $580m. That is far below the peak of more than $14bn it reached after it in 2021.
The company sold for under a tenth of what the market valued it at five years ago.
The that once set Bumble apart — only women could start a conversation with a match — was dropped in August 2026. Users debated whether the app had lost what made it different.
, who founded the business in 2014 and is still chief executive, said she would remain and work closely with the new owners. Her role has not been defined.
The feature that made Bumble distinctive was already gone before the sale, so the buyer is not paying for the brand promise.
reported in 2025 that adults in the UK were spending less time on dating apps than three years earlier.
, which owns Tinder, OkCupid and Hinge, has also seen its shares fall sharply from a 2021 peak. Bumble said in 2025 it would cut almost a third of its workforce.
Some single people are turning instead to board game nights, book clubs and other group activities to meet a partner.
The decline is the whole category, not one app — Bumble's buyer is taking on a business whose users are leaving the format.
The AI pivot predates the sale. , Bumble's chief executive in 2024, told the BBC that AI had "exciting potential" in dating apps for safety, and the company has since added features including profile guidance.