Women have always turned to someone for relationship advice—whether that meant writing to "Dear Abby," sending letters to Cosmo, or simply talking things over with close friends. These days, the options look different: you can post anonymously on Reddit relationship forums or follow social media creators who cover the topic. Now, two sisters are launching a startup aimed at young women called Hot Girl Hotline, which is built around bringing AI into these conversations.

You might be wondering: with all the progress in AI technology, founders are building something to help women discuss their dating struggles? Well…yes. The truth is, people are already using large language models (LLMs) through apps like ChatGPT for this kind of advice, and the team behind Hot Girl Hotline believes this activity deserves a more careful approach. As we've seen, chatting with a general-purpose chatbot about personal matters can sometimes produce disastrous outcomes—particularly for those who were already mentally fragile. ChatGPT, for instance, has faced a wave of lawsuits over its alleged manipulative conversation tactics, which plaintiffs say contributed to negative mental health effects and, in some cases, suicide.

The concept behind Hot Girl Hotline is to reach young women who want to have these private conversations while navigating dating and relationships, but in a safer way. "We're not trying to be an AI companion," explained Balia Mudgil, formerly a social media consultant, who co-founded the startup with her sister Sumrin ("Sumi"), who studied computer science at Stanford. "A companion is really going after solving loneliness, escapism, boredom—and you can rely on a lot of emotional dependency from that AI companion."

Balia says the startup's approach centers on offering quality advice grounded in behavioral science, but delivered in a way that feels like chatting with a trusted friend or big sister. The conversation is often Socratic, with the AI asking questions that help you arrive at the answer yourself. "This is not to replace speaking to a human. This is not clinical advice, and we have a lot of safeguards in place…we take safety really seriously," Balia said. If conversations raise flags, for example, the user is referred to resources such as the crisis hotline 988. "We believe the key to quality advice is not just knowing what to do next; it's understanding why you're doing it. So that's a big piece of it," added Sumi.

Notably, the AI also knows when to end the conversation; it doesn't keep asking follow-up questions that drag you further down a rabbit hole. Instead, it pushes users to go take action out in the real world rather than ruminate on the problem.

The sisters believe there's room for an app like this because not everyone wants to post on the web for advice, and there are times when you don't want to bring up a personal, dating, or relationship-focused issue with a friend. Friends can bring their own biases into the conversation, or the user may not want to put their partner on blast for something they did before they determine whether they're going to work through it or end the relationship. "It doesn't mean you're replacing your friend—you're just trying to get another perspective," says Balia of the hotline.

The app also personalizes its advice for each user to reflect their values, goals, identity, and tastes. Under the hood, the startup relies on a mix of AI models and encrypts users' data in transit and at rest. It doesn't sell or train on the data, either. When it uses a third-party AI model, it follows a zero-data-retention policy there as well.

Hot Girl Hotline plans to monetize through a $9.99 per month subscription, which hundreds of its most active users are already paying for. Later, it may incorporate ads, too. Relationship advice is just the beginning of how the company wants to cater to young women. It also plans to expand into other areas, like beauty and lifestyle. It's available on iOS and the web.