New York City is preparing to launch a pop-up café called "Date with AI" the world's first, timed for Valentine's Day, hosted by EVA AI, the developer of an AI Companion application designed to allow users to create their own "digital dating partner" and bring them to date, chat, and flirt just like with a real person.
EVA AI stated that to bridge the digital and real worlds, the company created EVA Café, a special café where visitors can date the AI Companion they have chosen or created in a real physical space. Participants can download the app, create their digital date, and bring them out that same evening. The café’s atmosphere is decorated romantically like a fine dining restaurant, with reserved single tables where the user's phone running the EVA AI app is placed opposite, simulating a typical date seating arrangement.
EVA AI further noted that nearly one in three men and one in four women under 30 have interacted with AI companions, whether chatting, sharing feelings, or building emotional bonds through their mobile screens. However, one experience still missing is real dating.
The café aims to demonstrate AI’s real-life behavioral responses by showing that users can spend time and have unique experiences with AI Companions in the physical world, not just through apps. Additionally, new features such as Live Voice Chat allow real-time conversations with AI, enhancing the realism of the date.
Some see this as reflecting changes in relationships in the tech era, where people turn to AI for comfort—a new form of loneliness alleviation through technology. Meanwhile, some critics question whether dating software blurs the line between humans and technology, potentially affecting how society views relationships in the future. Nonetheless, others consider this just one of New York’s creative, unexpected event styles.
This café sparks conversations about loneliness, connection, and the definition of relationships clearly for 2026. The AI dating market has been expanding, including those who seek direct relationships with AI and those who use AI as intermediaries to facilitate human connections. EVA AI Café in New York represents a further step in bringing digital relationships into physical spaces.
Besides EVA AI, there are several popular platforms in 2026 focusing on "AI Dating" and "AI Companion" services, which can be divided into two major groups:
Virtual partner apps where users engage directly with AI, such as GirlfriendGPT—a highly rated platform known for deep conversations and contextual memory features—or Candy.ai and Secrets AI, noted for realistic appearances, memory capabilities, and immersive multimedia interactions. These platforms, often web- or app-based, allow users to design the personality, appearance, and traits of their AI partner and then develop the relationship through conversation.
The other group includes dating apps using AI to enhance matching efficiency among real people, such as Sitch, which combines AI algorithms with human screening to recommend suitable matches, or popular apps like Bumble that offer AI features for suggesting icebreakers and enhancing safety. Tinder and other major platforms have started integrating AI tools like message drafting assistance or reply suggestions to ease conversations. Some platforms focus less directly on dating but on emotional relationship building, such as Character.AI and Replika.
The pop-up "Date with AI Café" hosted by EVA AI will take place at Same Same Wine Bar in Hell’s Kitchen, central New York. Interested people can register in advance to reserve a table through EVA AI’s social media.EVA AI
Source SecretNYC
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