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For nearly two years, George Arison, the CEO of LGBTQ+ dating app Grindr, has been promising to bring an “AI Wingman” to the social networks 14.9 million monthly users. The full wingman experience has thus far proven elusive, but alongside the company’s earnings in early August, Arison announced a plan to overhaul the company’s approach and become an AI-native company. What, exactly, does it mean for Grindr to be AI-native? In a slide deck that accompanied Grindr’s Q2 2025 results, the company declared, To us, AI-native means rebuilding product, architecture, and operations with intelligence embedded at every layernot bolted on as a feature.” When I ask Arison myself, he explains that it’s an opportunity to roll out custom-built tools for Grindr users, especially when off-the-shelf models lack specific knowledge of the LGBTQ+ community. “There is a huge opportunity to fill that gap and give Grindr a significant long-term competitive advantage, he says. The companys plan for its gAI (pronounced Gay I) is about as close to rebirth as a 16-year-old app can getif it can pull it off. In speaking with Arison, analysts, and Grindr users, I learned that strong AI features are built from the ground up, need to actually make the app function better, and that Arison’s approach might just be ambitious enough to work. As he notes, Grindr’s been an innovator before. Could it really be the first company to make the first AI move on corporate America? Starting on solid footing Grindr has made good on its financial outlook for the year, reporting net income of $17 million for the second quarter of 2025, a strong improvement over the companys $22 million net loss in the same period last year. Total revenue for the quarter was $104 million, up 27% year-over-year. Arison sees these results as a strong launchpad to Grindr becoming an AI innovator. As laid out in its latest shareholder letter, Grindr intends to become AI-native by designing an entirely new suite of in-house AI technologies and AI-powered features, some built from scratch, some powered by third-party providers. Theyll use Grindrs data to cater specifically to the apps primarily gay and bisexual male audiencethough whether that audience will embrace an AI overhaul remains to be seen. Grindrs plan also means building AI into the companys operational side, making the tech integral to its day-to-day operations. From Arisons perspective, embracing AI is keeping with Grindrs legacy as a first-mover in techits location based grid of nearby users was truly novel when it launched. [Grindr] was the first geolocation-based product of this kindnot just for the gay world, but for any worldwhen it launched, but it doesn’t really get credit for being this massive technology innovator, he says. I don’t want that to happen on the AI side. From AI to A-list So far, Grindrs AI-first approach hasnt yielded much in terms of actual features. Besides the only AI-powered tool for users to roll out before the AI-native pivot announcement is called A-List. Built using Amazon Web Services, Anthropic’s Claude Sonnet, and Metas Llama 3 models, A-List is designed to help users jump back into prior conversations through tailored summaries. It might remind you whos only interested in hooking up, who could make for a great long-term partner, or who youve already said youre planning to meet up with. So many conversations get lost in your inbox historically, Arison says of the inspiration for A-List. We’re not just summarizing a conversation, but actually trying to take the content from that conversation and what we know about you, and put people into different buckets of how to explore them. Its the first step, he says, toward being able to ask the app to recommend similar profiles, or in other words, toward gAI serving as the digital wingman of his dreams. But currently, A-List is only available to a select group of Grindr usersactually, a select group of a select group. The feature is only live for 25% of users on Grindrs top-tier Unlimited plan, which costs $40 a month (some 1.2 million users paid for Grindr in Q2, but the company doesnt break down subscribers by tier). Its rollout, along with other planned gAI features, has been slow-going, due in part to the constraints of existing open-source models. Specifically, Arison says theyre unequipped to handle the gay-specific slang and terminology that Grindr users speak with, not to mention the often sexual nature of conversations in the app. Thus, Grindrs ground-up approach: a new AI model tailor-made for the gays, X-rated exchanges included. If we can retrain models that are open-source today more appropriately towards our audience, using the data that we use and possess, that’s a unique advantage that is going to be hard for anybody else to replicate,” Arison says. Yi Zhou, the author of AI Native Enterprise: The Leader’s Guide to AI-Powered Business Transformation and the founder and chief AI officer at consulting firm ArgoLong, says that Grindr’s announcement marks a pivotal moment, not just for the company, but for how digital platforms serving niche, highly engaged communities can be reimagined through AI. He adds, What stands out is their commitment to build an AI platform from the ground up, rather than laying AI onto existing infrastructure. That distinction matters, because true AI-native enterprises don’t just automate the process. They restructure how value is created, personalized, and delivered in motion. Going global with gAI Grindrs planned gAI features also include Discover, which was already briefly live for some users before being pulled to make improvements. Though Grindr is best known for its proximity-based grid of potential connections, Discover embraces the opposite, showing users recommendations from around the world. Arison is particularly excited about a third gAI feature called Insights, which will offer added details about profiles that users havent listed themselves, such as the demographics theyre most likely to respond to. I think users will find that really, really helpful, especially when so many of Grindrs profilesfor any number of reasons, including mutual privacy or concerns around people’s safetyhave very limited information about them. (He stresses that these features will require users consent, both to see Insights about other users and let other users see Insights about them.) [Image: Grindr] Will users embrace AI in the app? Grindrs planned gAI features are novel. Theyre innovative. They present an entirely new potential for the future of dating apps and social networks at large. And thats all well and good, but it doesnt answer perhaps the biggest question raised by Grindrs announcement: Did anyone actually ask for this? The short answer is nonot in AI-specific terms, at any rate. Duncan Roberts, an associate director of research at professional services company Cognizant, regularly conducts studies on what being AI-native means for both consumers and companies. His teams 2025 report New Minds, New Markets, shows that consumers generally dont value AI in itself, but in the ways it can improve on convenience and efficiency. People don’t want to have AI thrust down their throats all the timethey just want their stuff to work, Roberts says. I think if a company like Grindr can embed it as such into their product with it almost being invisible, but make their product better and serve their customers better, then it will help them out. Arison, for his part, has no doubt that if Grindr creates quality AI features, consumer demandand, ideally, more subscribers paying for these toolswill follow. Q2s million-plus paid users for Grindrs Xtra and Unlimited tiers ($19.99 and $39.99 a month, respectively) represented 16% year-over-year growth. Most of the time, users don’t know what they want when there’s a technology shift, he says. And the reason they don’t know is because they don’t know what the technology is capable of. Arisons outlook is rosy, but Zhou and Roberts agree that a major transformation like the one planned for Grindr doesnt come without its fair share of potential downsides. Grindrs opportunity lies in doing what most companies have not: treat AI not as an add-on, but as the operating system of the enterprise, Zhou says. Every company has a big vision, but if you want to win the game, you have to execute it extremely well. I hope that Grindr could set a precedent [for] how a social platform evolves into a trusted, AI-driven community ecosystem. Roberts, meanwhile, points out that a drastic shift to new tech can alienate not only employees, who can be resistant to changes in company culture and workflow, but also consumers if handled incorrectly. If you start pushing AI [features] out to them that’s not thought out, that’s generic, or it doesn’t work, suddenly they see a degradation of performance in the app since the cutoverthey’ll just leave, he says. They’ll go somewhere else. Arison knows those risks exist. They simply dont concern him. Whats more concerning, he says, is the thought of being left behind as other companies embrace AI and surge ahead. If we don’t do this, there’s a massive risk. If we do it, then I don’t see a risk. I think that’s the way technology companies need to evolve, Arison says. I just see it as a huge opportunity.
Category:
E-Commerce
Retail store closures have been a common story in 2025. This month alone, the U.K.-based lifestyle and apparel chain FatFace announced that it would shutter its remaining stores in America. And just this week, tween accessory and apparel chain Claires listed hundreds of store closures in a revised bankruptcy filing. But at least one retailer has been bucking the trend of closures. Specialty discount chain Five Below has announced that it plans to open around 150 new stores during its fiscal year 2025. The company, which has been popular with Gen Z shoppers, appears to have an edge over some of its competitors as consumers who are worried about economic instability rein in their spending. Here are the upcoming locations, along with key details about the openings. Five Below announces 150 new stores for 2025 Yesterday, Five Below, Inc. (Nasdaq: FIVE) reported its second-quarter earnings for fiscal 2025. For the most part, the company had a good quarter. Here are the most important metrics it reported for the three-month period ending August 2: Net sales: $1.02 billion (up 23.7% from the same quarter a year earlier) Net income: $42.8 million (up from $33 million in the same quarter a year earlier) Adjusted diluted income per common share: 81 cents (versus 54 cents in the same quarter a year earlier) Announcing the results, Five Below CEO Winnie Park said they exceeded our sales and earnings expectations and demonstrated the effectiveness of our strategy and are a testament to the hard work, dedication and tight collaboration of our teams across the company, especially in an ever-changing tariff environment. In addition to the above numbers, Five Below also announced that it opened 32 net new stores during the quarter, bringing the companys total number of locations to 1,858 stores across 44 states. For the first half of its fiscal 2025, the company has now opened 87 net new stores. It also revealed that for its current third quarter, it expects to open another 50 or so net new stores. For all of fiscal 2025, it expects to open approximately 150 net new stores. With 87 of those locations already opened, that means Five Below expects to open around an additional 63 locations during the last six months of its fiscal 2025. Where are the upcoming Five Below stores? Five Below did not provide a full list of the locations for its upcoming stores. Fast Company reached out to the retailer for more details and will update this post if we hear back. However, Five Below does list some of its upcoming locations on its website. As of Thursday, those locations consisted of 23 stores across 18 states. The opening dates for these locations are August 29 or September 5, 12, 19, or 26, depending on the venue. Alabama 66 Market Terrace, Suite 600, Oneonta, AL 35121 2759 Eastern Boulevard, Montgomery, AL 36117 Arizona 7515 West Encanto Boulevard, Suite 10, Phoenix, AZ 85035 Arkansas 2203 S Promenade Blvd, Suite 20415, Rogers, AR 72758 California 3902 Missouri Flat Rd, Placerville, CA 95667 580 Francisco Blvd W, San Rafael, CA 94901 Florida 2539 Countryside Boulevard, 7A, Clearwater, FL 33761 Georgia 853 Rowland Drive, Moultrie, GA 31768 249 Robert C. Daniel Jr. Parkway, Augusta, GA 30909 1892 Mount Zion Road, Morrow, GA 30260 Illinois 5247 IL Route 251, Peru, IL 61354 450 River Oaks West, Calumet City, IL 60409 Indiana 2363 Hwy 135 NW, Suite 113, Corydon, IN 47112 Iowa 501 Bass Pro Dr, Suite 400, Altoona, IA 50009 Maryland 5600 The Alameda, Baltimore, MD 21239 Michigan 5114 28th Street SE, Suite A, Grand Rapids, MI 49512 Mississippi 194 Covenant Dr., Batesville, MS 38606 Missouri 21 Conley Road, Columbia, MO 65201 New Jersey 3131 John F. Kennedy Blvd, Suite B, Union City, NJ 07087 New York PRELIM: 2255 E Ridge Rd, Irondequoit, NY 14622 Ohio 141 Wooster Rd N, Barberton, OH 44203 Tennessee 1633 Decatur Pike, Athens, TN 37303 Wisconsin 1501 N Broadway St, Suite #5, Menomonie, WI 54751 Five Below stock price rises After Five Below announced its earnings yesterday, shares of the discount retailer are rising in premarket trading this morning, as of the time of this writing. Currently, FIVE stock is up over 4.5% to $151 a share. FIVE shares closed up 1.71% yesterday. Before todays premarket rise, FIVE shares had jumped more than 37.5% since the year began. Over the past 12 months, FIVE shares have surged 75% as of yesterdays close. Its continued opening of new stores is a sign that the companys leadership has faith in its growth trajectory, even as retailers across America are closing their doors. Earlier this year, Coresight Research forecast that approximately 15,000 retail locations across America would close i 2025, while around 5,800 would open. With Five Belows continued store expansion, it is clearly in the latter group.
Category:
E-Commerce
Earlier this year, I awoke to the sounds of some of my incarcerated peers excitedly talking about their trust accounts (our version of a bank account). Their restitution finescourt-ordered payments added to ones sentence as punishmenthad disappeared. Debts as high as $10,000 wiped clean. On January 1, 2025, California implemented Assembly Bill 1186, also known as the REPAIR Act, signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom. The new law provides restitution relief for those who have had fines longer than 10 years or are under 18 years old. Outstanding balances that remain for adults fees will be cleared, and the responsibility for paying restitution fees for those under 18 now belongs to the Crime Victims Compensation Board. In a press release about the act, its author, Assemblymember Mia Bonta stated, It costs more to collect fines than they are worth, and those being ordered to pay restitution have an increased likelihood and severity of future incidents of harm. This is a win for justice and it is a win for public safety.” Among those experiencing the impacts of the act was Michael Walker. Sitting in his cell in San Quentin Rehabilitation Centers North Block housing unit, an officer stopped at Walkers door and handed him a copy of his prison account statement. “I didn’t look at it,” he said. “I folded it up and threw it in my locker; but then my neighbor asked me if my restitution fine was still showing. I checked, and sure enough it was gone. I just started smiling.” Walker had no money or assets when the criminal courts ordered him to pay a $10,000 fine over 20 years ago as part of his sentence. While the trial court judge said he could pay his debt off over time, his job in the prisons main kitchen only paid 0.21 cents an hour. For years he felt like the fine was mocking him. He felt a deep sense of what he described as “abject” poverty. “Its not that I didn’t want to pay my restitution, ” he said. I couldn’t. The state does not provide me with the economic ability to pay.” Two tiers down in North Block, Michael Moore experienced a similar sense of relief, his $10,000 also erased. Most of the jobs Moore has held in his years incarcerated do not have a pay number, meaning he has long received no money for his labor; for that reason, Moore is reluctant to work. He’s currently a student via a college program within San Quentin. At first I didn’t believe it, I thought they made a mistake, Moore shared. But then someone told me they had passed a new law. Its like a heavy weight has been lifted. The REPAIR Act comes at a pivotal moment when society is coming to terms with how finances have become a harmfully intrinsic component to realizing freedom from prison. Buried in fines before the REPAIR Act I have been incarcerated for 30 years. I believe in restitution, and paid mine off in 2013. It took me 17 years to pay off $5,000and it wasnt thanks to jobs in prison. Incarcerated people in California earn between $0.30 to $1.50 an hour on average, per the Prison Policy Institute; and with policies like Proposition 6, an effort to end forced labor, getting denied, we aren’t going to see increased wages inside prisons any time soon. I believe in compensating people to whom I have caused harm. But, as Bonta says, the system has long created more victims. Reports show that two-thirds of those paying restitution indicate unpaid fines impact their ability to afford food and rent, 60% say it threatens their ability to pay utilities, and 93% say it affects their ability to pay other debts. Youth of color are also more likely to be ordered to pay restitution and at higher amounts due to targeted policing of Black and brown communities. [Restitution] puts a lot of pressure on people to potentially go for the quick dollar, which is potentially committing another crime,” Bonta said. For decades, the California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation (CDCR) has automatically deducted 55% of our earnings to go toward restitution. It could take a decade or more for those who make less than a dollar a day to pay off these debts, compared to a matter of months with a minimum wage job in society. (There is no statute of limitations for when restitution must be paid in California; incarcerated individuals are not obligated to pay before they leave prison). In response to massive income gaps nationally, many families seek to support their incarcerated loved ones by sending them money. The money they share is also halved by the state toward restitution. Parents have become subject to unforgiving collection practices and the collateral consequences of court-ordered debt, including negative credit impacts, bank levies, and property liens. Restitution fines have also inhibited people from getting paroled. Several months after a California Board Of Parole Hearing (BPH) panel found Vincent O’Bannon suitable for parole in the summer of 2023, he was escorted by two Investigative Service Unit (ISU) officers to an institutional security unit office at the San Quentin Rehabilitation Center. After reading him his Miranda Rights, the officers informed O’Bannon they were investigating him at the request of BPH authorities to determine if he was avoiding paying restitution. In monitoring several phone calls between O’Bannon and his wife, they had determined he was having his wife put money into the accounts of incarcerated peers to circumvent his payments. Restitution and other fines’ impact on parole OBannon said he placed money in others accounts in order to supplement the small portions of food the prison provides and to purchase hygiene and other products via commissary. Had he placed the money into his own account, it would be subject to a 55% restitution deduction, leaving him little to meet his needs. With barely enough palatable food and nutrition available to us, incarcerated people depend on our wages to buy other food. CDCR also does not provide incarcerated people with scented soaps, deodorant, hair grease, lotion, or toothpaste, nor do they provide comfortable leisure clothing. Incarcerated individuals have to purchase these items from canteen vendors that have historically engaged in price gouging. Consequently, it isn’t a mystery why the problem of circumventing restitution exists. “My intention was not to circumvent restitution, but to preserve and maximize money from my family, because they also have to pay other bills,” OBannon said. Restitution is already being ollected from my prison pay. At the time, OBannon still owed $3,935.29 on a $6,113.00 restitution order. ISU officers wrote a rules violation report alleging O’Bannon was hiding assets in violation of criminal penal code statute 155.5. O’Bannon was found guilty. The BPH rescinded his parole date and denied parole for three years. (This type of financial transaction monitoring has ripple effects on people who are up for parole and do not owe restitution at all. Some incarcerated people have been punished because they received money from, say, an aunt whose child is also in prison. By virtue of being cousins/related, these two incarcerated people can have their parole threatened). The Prison Policy Initiative released a report last year detailing how, across 16 states, fines and fees impacted parole decisions, sometimes leading to denials. And since 2009, the ACLU has been exposing and challenging modern day debtors prisons as a growing problem across the country. Debtors’ prisons were officially abolished under federal law by Congress in 1833. The U.S Supreme Court has held on multiple occasions that a prison term cannot be extended for failing to pay court costs and fines. In 1983, the court reaffirmed that incarcerating indigent debtors is unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment. In April of this year, O’Bannon was able to escape his modern-day debtors’ prison when a Santa Clara County Superior Court judge resentenced him to 10 years with credit for time served. As for the allegations around circumventing his restitution, prosecutors simply asked that he write a letter of accountability. OBannon is now free and owes less than $500 in restitution. However, situations like O’Bannon’s remain a problem for thousands of others facing a parole board hearing in California who hope to preserve their moneyeither made inside or received from their familyin an effort to save, get paroled, and make the money needed to pay off their debts once released. The BPH considers these potential parole candidates as an unreasonable risk of danger to society and unsuitable for release. A new plan is needed to combat carceral debt While the BPH believes people like OBannon should pay their restitution, they aren’t actively advocating for fair wages for forced prison labor so incarcerated individuals can pay these debts, nor do they seem to be concerned about hurting taxpayers who will pay an additional $132,850 a year to keep people like OBannon incarcerated. The REPAIR Act is both a step in the right direction and validation that those like O’Bannon have been long mistreated by these financial confines, and that many others nationally are still being exploited by ineffective restitution measures. Still, other states remain dependent on an archaic response that impacts all partiessurvivors, taxpayers, loved ones, and the incarcerated. It’s time for this country to follow suit in Californias REPAIR Act and additionally end slave wages in prisons. Turning the pockets of poor people inside out will not suddenly create a rushing river of revenue. “In the 32 years I’ve been incarcerated, I only managed to pay $3,000 on a $10,000 restitution fine,” said Alex Ross, a peer support specialist. “I don’t know how many years it would have taken to pay off the rest, had the law not taken it off. I’d probably be dead before I finished paying.” As incarcerated people, we want to be accountable for the harm we have caused. We want to repair and recompense as best we can for the losses that have occured. But the criminal legal system’s practices are preventing us from doing just that. Putting us into perpetual debt or denying peoples parole because of failure to pay restitution or other fees doesnt help anyone. Theres a more effective way to move forward collectively.
Category:
E-Commerce
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