风险投资公司Patron的合伙人Amber Atherton认为，人工智能将彻底改变我们在线建立联系的方式。她预测，未来的社交和关系建立平台将不再依赖滑动浏览个人资料，而是利用AI技术来寻找更相关的连接。Atherton重点介绍了“关系操作系统”的概念，这类平台不仅限于浪漫关系，还涵盖友谊和职业发展等多个方面。她还提到了Boardy和Gigi等创业公司，并分享了Patron在消费者科技领域的投资策略，特别关注那些能够解决孤独感并促进真实世界连接的创新。

💡**AI驱动的“关系操作系统”：**Amber Atherton认为，未来的社交平台将不再是传统的约会应用，而是类似“关系操作系统”的存在。这些平台利用人工智能技术，主动为用户寻找在友谊、爱情和职业等方面的相关联系，而不是仅仅依赖用户手动搜索。

🤝**关注真实世界连接的平台：**Atherton看好那些能够促进真实世界互动和联系的平台，例如协调线下活动的应用程序。她认为，这类平台能够缓解人们对传统线上约会应用的疲劳感，从而提供更具意义的社交体验。

💞**维护关系的消费产品：**Atherton还提到了用于维护人际关系的消费产品的重要性，包括帮助情侣记录生活的工具以及帮助朋友保持联系的应用。她认为，这类产品能够加强人们之间的联系，并提供更深层次的情感支持。

🔮**虚拟仪式中的共享体验：**Atherton认为，未来的平台将通过虚拟仪式等方式，再次让共享体验变得有形。她提到了Patron投资的Arya，一个为情侣提供的AI驱动的亲密关系教练，以及像Moonlight这样的塔罗牌应用，它们都在创造仪式感和连接。

The era of dating apps as we know it could be squashed by artificial intelligence.Amber Atherton, a partner at VC firm Patron, thinks AI will transform relationship-building.She's on the hunt for what she thinks could be a multimillion-dollar business in consumer tech.

The next generation of apps we use to find love may not look like the dating apps we're used to.

Amber Atherton, a partner at consumer-focused venture capital firm Patron, thinks artificial intelligence will dramatically change how we meet people online. Instead of swiping through profiles or scrolling through a feed, platforms in the AI era will use what they know about you to find new connections.

Startups are building what Atherton dubs "relationship OS" platforms. They're using agentic AI (such as autonomous assistants) to "make more relevant connections" and "mine your network," Atherton told Business Insider.

"There's an agentic social network basically that I think is going to emerge that is not packaged as a dating app," Atherton said. "It's packaged more as this operating system for relationships."

They're not just for love.

"The idea being that it's always on, evergreen AI-assisted network that can surface connections that are relevant for friendship, romance, professional life," Atherton said.

Two startups that Atherton mentioned as examples include:

Boardy, which hails itself as an "AI super connector" for professionals.Gigi, which recently rebranded from an AI-powered dating app to an "AI social connector" for everything from friendship to partnership to projects, per its Apple App Store listing.

(Patron is not an investor in either of these.)

"I think we're going to see more of those emerge," Atherton said. "Maybe the wedge they start with is professional, but then they build your trust, and they start branching out more into friendship, hobbies, dating."

Atherton said the space is "nascent."

Still, Patron is actively investing in its relationship tech thesis, Atherton said.

It's not alone in watching startups in this space. Other consumer-focused VCs have also expressed interest in backing startups that address loneliness, especially those that use AI to do so.

Looking for the next generation of consumer tech

While some VC firms have soured on consumer investments, Patron is hyper-focused on the space.

In 2024, Patron closed a $100 million fund and is investing in seed-stage consumer startups with $2 million to $5 million checks.

"We kind of look at this landscape of new consumer startups through the lens of gaming," Atherton said.

Its cofounders, Brian Cho and Jason Yeh, were former executives at Riot Games, and Atherton worked at Discord after the company acquired her community software startup Zyper.

"How do you build a consumer product that people want to spend hundreds of thousands of hours in?" Atherton said. "Your identity is tied to it, you have fun there, and it's a place to hang out."

In May, Atherton published a blog post that detailed four categories (including her "relationship OS" thesis) where she sees "breakout consumer businesses being built" — and where she believes a multibillion-dollar company could surface.

Here are three other themes she's eyeing in consumer relationship tech:

Community platforms that drive in-real-life (IRL) connection. "Platforms that leverage AI or augment human hosts to facilitate real-world connections around shared interests, events, or communities can counteract dating fatigue," Atherton wrote in her blog. She told BI that 222, an app that coordinates IRL activities with strangers, falls into this category, as well as Real Roots, an IRL app for women looking to make friends in their city.Consumer products for maintaining relationships. And that includes our relationships with ourselves, Atherton said. "A new class of apps will emerge that map and enrich our close ties," she wrote in the blog post, such as tools that help couples journal or long-distance friends keep in touch. Atherton cited Autograph, an AI-powered oral history platform for families, as an example.Shared experiences in the form of virtual rituals. "The next breakout platforms will make shared experiences feel tangible again," Atherton wrote. Patron invested in Arya, an AI-powered intimacy coach for couples, which Atherton said falls into this bucket. She also told BI that apps like Moonlight, a Tarot card app, are creating ritual and connection.