Crypto News: A match made in AI heaven

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Dating apps are such a bore.
He's knocking on every door.
Bond yields shouldn't soar.
BP shares have hit the floor.

The dating scene has gotten so grim that some people have resorted to passing out "rizzness" cards — that's rizz + business cards, for those not chronically online — in public. But Dave Lee says artificial intelligence could soon save the day.

It's no secret that people are suffering from "dating app fatigue." Dave says Hinge, one of the more popular apps out there, is tinkering with a new system that will make online romance less of a headache. The goal is "to move from a world where you're voting up or down on dozens or hundreds of profiles to a world where you're providing really thoughtful feedback on just a few," Justin McLeod, Hinge's chief executive officer, told him.

The company's AI-powered personal matchmaker will also "tell users if their prompt responses — the little bits of text on a profile designed to entice matches — could be improved," Dave writes. One of the great tragedies of modern life is that the internet has made us all rather unoriginal. Fish photos and generic platitudes — "You bring the tequila, I'll bring the bad decisions!" "Puppies are my love language!" "New York or nowhere!" — are a dime a dozen on dating apps, but McLeod says Hinge can help: "We've trained models on responses that actually yield conversations and dates, and those that don't."

"AI can do a better job of understanding your personal preferences," Dave argues. "After all, you're not looking for the person the average Hinge or Bumble user finds hot, you're looking for the person you find hot, for whatever reason that hotness floats your charmingly unique kind of boat."

Still, incorporating AI into your love life — and your life in general — gives some people the ick:

Whatever happened to meeting your next-door neighbor and falling in love with them? Well, Andy Mukherjee might tell you that nobody sees their neighbor anymore. We've got social anxiety, for one: Just this morning, I left my apartment at the same time as a woman next door and I went completely nonverbal, giving her the 'ol look-down-at-my-shoes nod before bolting down the stairs. And plenty of people don't ever leave the house because everything can be delivered to your doorstep.

"Run out of sugar? Someone will zigzag through traffic to get it to you before the tea goes cold. No time for a diaper run? Blinkit has you covered. Or Zepto... or Swiggy Instamart," he writes, referring to the rapidly expanding quick commerce market in India. We have similar services stateside, but while the Indian delivery economy is booming (at least so far), Andy says the "US market is littered with failures like Fridge No More, Buyk, Jokr, and Getir."

There are plenty of pitfalls when it comes to using technology to fix things, whether it be your relationship status or the container of eggs you just dropped on the floor. "A lot can go wrong when 1.4 billion consumers start expecting even household appliances to arrive in 10 minutes, and are not willing to take stock of the consequences of their impatience," Andy writes. "They might get more than they bargained for when the doorbell rings."

Speaking of doorbells! This American hero has knocked on 10,000 doors in Philadelphia since May. But he's not delivering toilet paper or LaCroix to people, he's encouraging them to vote:

SEIU member Tyron Payne Photographer: Francis Wilkinson/Bloomberg

Tyron Payne, a 44-year-old security guard at a Philadelphia hospital, is averaging 55 doors and 12,000 steps a day. Francis Wilkinson had the pleasure of speaking with him about his efforts: "I've got to talk to all kinds of different people," he said. The Democratic presidential nomination switcheroo in July made his task easier. "You could see the difference at the door," Payne said.

Kamala Harris has everyone from Adam Brody to Beyoncé on her side, but Francis says volunteers like Payne are her campaign's secret weapon: "He does the gritty work of organizing and educating that no pop star can match." Payne is a member of the Service Employees International Union, which has knocked on 5.2 million doors in Pennsylvania — 3.2 million of them in Philadelphia — since September. They plan to knock on another million before we see Steve Kornacki's khaki pants next week.

"Every person we talk to matters," the union's president told members. "Every door we knock, every single thing we do from now until November 5th is a step towards history." Read the whole thing for free.

Bonus Election Reading:

The Trump trade is back, but there's some important distinctions between now and 2016. — John Authers
Under Trump's tariff plan, everything from Walmart sweaters to winter produce would cost more. — Patricia Lopez
Trump will need an obedient attorney general to abuse the powers of the office to go after his critics. – Barbara L. McQuade

Uh-oh: Something funky is happening with the bond market. "You wouldn't normally expect market yields to surge higher at a time when the Federal Reserve just increased the size of its interest rate cuts from 25 basis points to 50 basis points," writes Mohamed A. El-Erian, yet that's pretty much what happened. Marcus Ashworth — ever the Fed detective — is on the case: "With so much in Goldilocks territory, Washington must be the problem here. The economy is broadly ticking along nicely, but importantly neither is it too hot," he writes. "Fear of the unknown is an ephemeral thing even if nothing much in the real economy has changed. Any incoming administration's capacity to splurge fiscally will be heavily limited, not just legislatively but by bond-market appetite."

BP had its earnings today, and they didn't go over well with investors. Javier Blas says the company tried to soften the blow of weaker oil and gas prices, but ended up making it worse. "In corporate-speak, when a company says a key target is 'currently' unchanged but it plans to disclose a 'review' soon, you know trouble is coming," he writes. The oil major's market value now sits near a four-year low. "At its current valuation, BP is worth less than during the worst moment of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill in 2010. And, back then, many thought BP was going belly up."

You may hear about synthetic risk transfers when the next financial crisis hits. — Bloomberg's editorial board

The US is asking a lot of TSMC. More export curbs aren't the answer. — Catherine Thorbecke

Toys are giving underemployed young Chinese a way to daydream and escape. — Shuli Ren

The boom in private credit smells awfully similar to the subprime mortgage bubble. — Paul J. Davies

Don't bet against the dollar; the currency has too many advantages to count. — Tyler Cowen

JD Vance is going on Joe Rogan's podcast.

Justin Trudeau is facing an "iceberg revolt."

Elon Musk bought a secret compound for his family.

Commercial real estate is crashing and burning.

The world's tallest teen.

Cop16 delegates stay in steamy motels.

Cake picnics are shockingly civil. Or maybe not.

Notes: Please send 25 slices of cake and feedback to Jessica Karl at jkarl9@bloomberg.net.

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