Tech Meets Its Match

The British philosopher Paul McCartney once explained, “I don’t care too much for money. Money can’t buy me love.” Of course, at the time of his epiphany, no one had AI money. We are learning that AI alone can’t buy you love. At least that’s one of the revelations offered by the booming business of real-life matchmakers serving the newly rich and still lonely. “After 23 years as a matchmaker in Silicon Valley, Amy Andersen is accustomed to clients with money to spend and little time to spare. But lately, the founder of Linx Dating in Menlo Park, California, has noticed a new cohort coming through her doors: employees of companies such as Perplexity, Anthropic and Nvidia. Andersen says demand for her services has exploded over the past few years, driven in large part by the wealth created by the artificial intelligence boom, which is benefitting not just tech workers but people in adjacent industries, from law to real estate. Part headhunter and part dating coach, she scouts for possible matches both in the wild — at events, online and across social media — and within her proprietary database of some 25,000 eligible singles. Clients can get everything from image consulting and professional photo shoots to coaching before and after dates. Her current clients, men and women ranging from age 20 to 75, are willing to spend heavily to solve a problem that dating apps haven’t.” Bloomberg (Gift Article): The AI Boom Is Creating a New Market for $500,000 Matchmakers. Technology evolves, but some things never change. This story is basically a scene from Fiddler on the Roof, adjusted for inflation.