Just days after its US launch, Goose, a new dating app built by model Derek Chadwick and former BeReal growth manager David Aliagas, is caught in an authenticity crisis: a Wired investigation alleges the app deployed AI-generated male profiles to recruit real users, a practice that directly violates its own community guidelines and federal regulations against AI impersonation.
How the Scheme Allegedly Worked
According to Wired's investigation, the fake accounts operated as a coordinated network. They exhibited telltale signs of AI generation: profile pictures determined to be AI-created with over 90 percent confidence, abnormal follower-to-following ratios, and synchronized engagement patterns, with accounts frequently liking and commenting on each other's photos using identical emoji combinations. The accounts then reached out to actual gay men via Instagram DMs and Stories, inviting them to join a "curated network" on Goose.
Several men interviewed by Wired described falling for the tactic. Ryan Cheam thought he was talking to "a normal gay guy" until the account pitched him the app. "On one hand I'm flattered that I'm their target audience," Cheam told Wired. "But the need to essentially bait gay guys into signing up feels really sketchy." Since the investigation published, many of the flagged accounts have been deactivated, a move that suggests either a hasty cleanup or an acknowledgment of wrongdoing.
The Contradiction at the Heart
Goose's own community guidelines demand that users "stay authentic" and prohibit sharing "content created from generation or content-altering tools." Those rules were meant to protect the very thing the app claims to offer: genuine human connection in a dating space oversaturated with superficiality. The Federal Trade Commission explicitly forbids using AI-generated accounts to impersonate people or manufacture fake endorsements, so if Goose created these profiles as part of its promotional strategy, it's not just ethically questionable-it may be illegal.
When asked for comment, neither Chadwick nor Goose initially responded to Wired. A company spokesperson later told The Advocate that the app was "hand-picked" for every invitee and that they work "24/7 to keep our app safe and free of the fake profiles that have soured other platforms." The statement also took a swipe at competitors, implying they were behind the negative attention. That defensive framing, combined with the account deactivations, suggests the company knew exactly what had happened.
More Than a Deceptive Onboarding Tactic
The AI catfishing is alarming, but it's not Goose's only red flag. The app's terms of service include a sweeping "Member Content License and Waiver" that grants Goose the right to use users' names, images, voices, and likenesses-including disappearing photos-without clear restrictions on how. As one user noted on X, this effectively gives Goose permission to do "whatever they want with any photos/data you upload to the app," creating what they called an "insane privacy concern."
For a platform that launched with promises of authenticity and safety, these policies paint a picture of a company far more interested in growth than protection. Using fake accounts to recruit users is the kind of deception that erodes trust in the entire space-and it sends a chilling message to gay men already wary of predatory tactics on dating apps. Goose positioned itself as the ethical alternative to Grindr. Instead, it's proving that disruption and deception can go hand in hand.
Cover photo: cottonbro studio / Pexels
