What’s Wrong With Dating Apps?
Wednesday, October 29th, 2025
World News — Israel Orders Fresh Strike on Gaza
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered “forceful strikes” on Gaza following an attack on Israeli soldiers, threatening a US-brokered ceasefire that has held for just over two weeks. The strikes, which Israel says are in response to Hamas militants attacking Israeli forces in Rafah, killed at least 20 Palestinians late Tuesday, though Hamas denied involvement and reaffirmed its commitment to the ceasefire. The escalation jeopardizes the mid-October deal brokered by President Trump that secured the release of the last living hostages and increased humanitarian aid, though US Vice President JD Vance said he expects the peace agreement to hold despite the violence.
Tech — Nvidia Lines Up Lists of Buyers For Its New Chip
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang announced a wave of new partnerships and dismissed AI bubble concerns, stating the company’s latest Blackwell and Rubin chips are on track to generate half a trillion dollars in revenue, with 20 million units expected to ship compared to just 4 million of the previous generation. At Nvidia’s first Washington GTC conference, Huang unveiled collaborations with major companies including Uber (100,000 self-driving vehicles), Palantir, CrowdStrike, and a $1 billion investment in Nokia, while also announcing international deals like a €1 billion data center in Germany and upcoming partnerships in South Korea.
The announcements sent Nvidia shares up 5% to a record closing high of $201.03, with Huang arguing that AI models are now powerful enough that customers willingly pay for them, justifying the massive infrastructure investments and easing concerns about overinvestment in the sector.
Economics — US Consumer Sentiment Slips
US consumer confidence fell for a third consecutive month in October to 94.6, the lowest level since April, driven by dimmer views on the economy and labor market outlook despite present conditions improving slightly. The Conference Board’s expectations index dropped to 71.5, its lowest since June, with more consumers anticipating fewer available jobs in the next six months and less positive income prospects, even as the gap between those finding jobs plentiful versus hard to get widened.
Confidence remains below last year’s levels as Americans worry about slowing job growth, inflation above the Federal Reserve’s target, and economic uncertainty from President Trump’s tariff policies and an ongoing government shutdown, though consumer references to prices and inflation continue to be the main factor influencing economic views.
Culture — What’s Wrong With Dating Apps?
Dating apps have disappointed both users and investors, with companies like Bumble and Match Group seeing falling stock prices and declining user numbers, despite their promises of algorithmic matchmaking that dates back to 1960s efforts like Operation Match, which secretly just matched people randomly after basic filters.
The fundamental problem is that algorithms struggle to predict romantic compatibility because people don’t truly know what they want, often lie in their profiles, and spend more time anxiously scrolling than actually dating, though surprisingly, research by economists Hwang, de Paula and Yang found that apps like Tinder actually increase cross-ethnic relationships by throwing users into undifferentiated pools rather than allowing demographic filters.
While dating apps parallel social media in being both chaotic and potentially polarizing, their scattershot approach may inadvertently promote diversity in dating choices, even as the gap between their promises and delivery remains stark—with the apps profiting from keeping users endlessly swiping rather than finding lasting connections.
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“To question what you know -- what you think is true -- is how the world advances.”
― Bill Gates, Source Code