# OpenAI Valuation, Airbnb AI, and Dating App Shifts

**Podcast:** TechCrunch Daily Crunch
**Published:** 2026-10-01

## Transcript

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Airbnb adds AI search and more social features.
I'm Emeron Shaikh and your Thursday Daily Crunch featuring three big tech headlines starts right now.
Now, as younger users grow increasingly tired of the endless scroll, dating apps are scrambling to adapt to a generation that increasingly wants dating to feel more social and rooted in real world experiences.
So the latest example comes from...
Tinder itself, which on Wednesday announced the launch of Group Hangouts, a new feature that lets groups of friends discover, match, and make plans with other groups around shared activities.
With Group Hangouts, users start by choosing an activity and inviting at least two friends to join.
Once the group has at least three members, its profile can appear in Tinder's main card stack, where it can be discovered by other groups.
There can be a maximum of 15 people in a group.
Users can then browse other groups and like one that catches their interest.
If at least one person from each group likes the other, the groups are connected in a shared chat, giving everyone a chance to make plans together.
Notably, Tinder is giving users some control over how the experience plays out.
Members can leave a conversation without leaving the friend group, and they can block or report another participant if they become uncomfortable.
The feature is available at the top of Tinder's main home screen and is rolling out in phases in the U.S.
and select markets, with additional markets expected to follow.
Now, Group Hangouts builds on Tinder's earlier push into group-oriented dating.
Last year, the company launched Double Date, which lets users pair up with a friend and browse other pairs.
Group Hangouts takes that concept, well, a step further, expanding the number of people involved and shifting the experience away from the traditional one-on-one date towards something more like a social outing.
The push comes as Tinder works to re-engage users amid a challenging stretch for one of the OG dating apps.
Open AI is in talks with investors to raise at least $30 billion in a pre-IPO funding round at a valuation of roughly $1.4 trillion.
Bloomberg reported this on Tuesday.
Investors are eager to pour more funds into the chat GPT maker ahead of its anticipated public market debut next year.
While Anthropic momentarily outpaced OpenAI at the start of the year, recent strategic refocus on key areas like coding, has fueled a 70% jump in run rate revenue since July, reaching $40 billion in August, according to the report.
The company previously raised $122 billion in March at an $852 billion valuation.
That funding round was supposed to be its last private raise before an IPO, which had been, until recently, expected to take place this year.
However, CEO Sam Altman has now ruled out a public debut in 2026 to prioritize AI safety first.
I think it is unacceptable to be taking like a 10% chance of killing everybody by the end of the decade.
He recently told Fortune in response to warnings from safety researchers about AI posing an existential risk to humanity.
Thanks, Sam Altman.
The new fundraising, if it transpires, will serve as a bridge round to the IPO, according to Bloomberg.
OpenAI did not respond to TechCrunch's request for comment.
Well, it looks like Airbnb is evolving in two directions.
On the ground, it wants to compete with hotels by providing myriad services.
Online, it's using AI and people in its Airbnb network to aid travel discovery.
You see, as part of its fall product update, the company's adding services to the app it had launched last year, such as meal delivery, laundry, baby gear rental, ski and boat rental in limited locations, and expanded grocery delivery.
The second big feature is AI Search.
The company has taken a cautious approach to rolling out AI features, with CEO Brian Chesky opting to stay away from a chatbot-like interface.
Earlier this year, he teased the new Search feature for property discovery.
Now, users can switch on a toggle to search for properties via text or voice prompts.
Now, once you start the search, the interface will show you dynamic filters based on your preferences.
For instance, if you type baby in the AI search filter, Airbnb will automatically show you further filters like cribs, playgrounds, or children's books and toys.
The platform's also using AI to bring out relevant features of a property and will let you compare properties in your wishlist by way of AI-powered summaries and reviews.
The company is also doubling down on social features that nudge people to take more trips and book additional experiences such as food tastings and craft workshops.
Last year, the app started allowing users to connect with fellow travelers and friends on its platform.
Now, travelers can look at a map based on their connections past or upcoming trips.
When you tap on a trip, you can see where your connections stayed and which experiences they sought out.
Of course, for those conscious about their privacy, there's an option to not share their trips with others as well.
Airbnb is also building pages about neighborhoods based on guest reviews and other sources to help travelers discover places to eat and things to do.
We now go to the latest in startup business news all in about one minute with our friend, producer Dennis.
Imran, thank you, and when former Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer told us earlier this month that she was ready to finally unveil Dazzle, the personal AI assistant that raised an $8 million seed round last December, we couldn't help but wonder if she's playing copycat to Meta's Muse, Instinct, and the wave of similar tools that have flooded the market over the past month.
But when Mayer finally gave us a demo, Dazzle proved it's taking a different approach.
Instead of building context about you from text-heavy apps like email, calendars, and shopping histories, Dazzle's AI assistant gets all context from a single source, your camera roll.
Mayer argues that if a photo is worth a thousand words, your camera roll is worth millions.
By analyzing all the photos stored on your phone, Dazzle claims to understand your hobbies, interests, food, and style preferences, how you like to spend your time, and with whom.
It's no surprise that Mayer has built an assistant centered around photos.
Her previous startup, Sunshine, launched an AI-powered photo-sharing tool called Shine in 2024.
While that product was widely criticized for its outdated design, failed to attract widespread usage, and eventually shut down, Mayer says it nevertheless built interesting IP.
And folks, that's your Daily Crunch.
Today's stories were reported by Lauren Forrestal, Marina Temkin, Ivan Mehta, and more awesome TechCrunch journalists.
We'll see you here tomorrow.
Same tech time, same crunch channel.
And until then, find us at TechCrunch.com.
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