People on social media are already sounding the alarm about new gay dating app Goose, following a Wired investigation that suggests it may be using AI-generated men to promote the app.
Goose was founded by actor and model Derek Chadwick and bills itself as an “anti-algorithm” app. It is membership only and there are no matches, but users can “wave” at each other.
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Even before Goose was released, gay men already had a plethora of apps to choose from. Grindr is ubiquitous and the most well-known, but in recent years users have complained about its paywall feature and buggy user interface. There’s also an app called Sniffies that dating app conglomerate Match Group just invested $100 million into. SCRUFF, Jack’d, and the new mobile version of Squirt.
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During Pride Month, Match is discontinuing its “intentional” gay dating app Archer.
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In this crowded marketplace, where people on social media are talking about random men DMing them and adding them to their close friends’ stories just to promote Goose, these men could be AI-generated.
Wired found more than 20 Instagram accounts created in May or June 2026 that posted only a few times, suggesting they may not be real. Wired also ran the accounts’ images through an AI detector, making it likely that AI was used to create these profiles. As Mashable previously reported, these AI checkers are not foolproof, but when combined with other factors, Wired reported that the gay men whose accounts are sending the DMs may be fake, created solely to promote Goose.
When asked for comment, Goose provided the following statement: Goose is disrupting the gay app world by creating a place where real people can make real friends, dates, and community. Our team is hand-picking everyone who receives an invitation to our app, and we’re proud of the community we’re building. We work 24/7 to keep our app safe and eliminate fake profiles that are negatively impacting other platforms. Clearly, competitors are taking notice.
According to Wired, the Federal Trade Commission prohibits false advertising and requires disclosure of social media ads.
Updated: July 2, 2026, 5:56 PM EDT This article has been updated with a statement from Goose.
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