Goose, a New Gay Dating App, Appears to Be a Psyop
The Instagram Close Friends Story for @miles.sumrall shows an affable-looking guy with curly dark hair and an expertly groomed mustache beaming as he floats on
The Instagram Close Friends Story for @miles.sumrall shows an affable-looking guy with curly dark hair and an expertly groomed mustache beaming as he floats on the water. “You’re receiving this because you’re exactly the type of person we’re building this for,” the caption reads, accompanied by a code for an invite to a “members only community.” The link leads to a login for Goose, a dating and friendship app for gay men with the slogan “for the boys,” which allows users to “meet guys through the life you already have,” according to its website. The problem is that @miles.sumrall does not appear to be real. Neither does @danielmmulugeta, the cute dark-haired influencer who shared the above caption, with the exact same verbiage, on his Close Friends’ Stories. Both accounts were created in May 2026 and have fewer than 10 posts as well as a high following-to-follower ratio. And both of their Instagram avatars were determined with greater than 90 percent confidence to be AI-generated, according to the AI Image Detector software.
A SynthID check on Google Gemini, which can help identify AI-generated images, also found that “most or all of” Miles’ and Daniel’s profile photos were created using Google AI. Created by the model-influencer Derek Chadwick, as well as former BeReal growth and community manager David Aliagas, Goose positions itself as a Grindr alternative for gay men who want to build lasting relationships. At the time that it was announced, many scoffed at the idea that the app would be used for anything other than finding casual hookups. “Goose is basically Pokémon Ho,” one X user joked. Still, user interest was apparently high enough that when the app launched last Thursday, it rose to #4 in the App Store’s free lifestyle downloads category, and is now ranked 33rd in lifestyle app downloads globally. And promotional content by creators like @miles.sumrall likely played a role in driving so many to download the app. Miles and Daniel appeared in screengrabs shared on X by user @pspthe2nd, whose post alleged that the app “use[s] AI models to promote fake interest #goose.” But both of the accounts appear to be part of a much larger network of comely, seemingly AI-generated male influencers promoting the app, either by reaching out to gay men via DM or adding them to their Close Friends Stories.
Ryan Cheam, an account executive in marketing and public relations, says he first noticed a strange new Instagram account belonging to someone named @alistaircrombbie about a week ago. His bio says he works in PR at a well-known art gallery, so, Cheam tells WIRED, “I thought he was just a normal gay guy.” He became suspicious, however, after Alistair DMed him inviting him to join a “curated network of guys” at Goose, sending him an invite code. A SynthID check found that “most or all” of Alistair’s profile photo was generated using Google AI. In addition to Miles, Alistair, and Daniel, WIRED was able to identify more than two dozen similar accounts, all of which were created in May or June 2026 and featured just a few posts—a typical indication of inauthentic accounts. Many of the accounts also frequently comment on each other’s photos, including the same heart and fire emojis. Often, the accounts followed potential members and added them to their Close Friends Stories, but sometimes they directly DMed them to encourage them to sign up, as was the case with Dalton Bauer, who works in marketing and received a DM from a user named @lucalepkowski.
The BriefWire