\n<\/p>\n
The Instagram Close Friends<\/a> Story for @miles.sumrall<\/a> shows an affable-looking guy with curly dark hair and an expertly groomed mustache beaming as he floats on the water. \u201cYou\u2019re receiving this because you\u2019re exactly the type of person we\u2019re building this for,\u201d the caption reads, accompanied by a code for an invite to a \u201cmembers only community.\u201d<\/p>\n The link leads to a login for Goose<\/a>, a dating and friendship app<\/a> for gay men with the slogan \u201cfor the boys,\u201d which allows users to \u201cmeet guys through the life you already have,\u201d according to its website.<\/p>\n The problem is that @miles.sumrall does not appear to be real. Neither does @danielmmulugeta, the cute dark-haired influencer<\/a> who shared the above caption, with the exact same verbiage, on his<\/em> Close Friends\u2019 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<\/a> 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,<\/a> which can help identify AI-generated images, also found that \u201cmost or all of\u201d Miles\u2019 and Daniel\u2019s profile photos were created using Google AI.<\/p>\n Created by the model-influencer Derek Chadwick, as well as former BeReal growth and community manager David Aliagas, Goose positions itself as a Grindr<\/a> 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. \u201cGoose is basically Pok\u00e9mon Ho,\u201d one X user joked.<\/p>\n Still, user interest was apparently high enough that when the app launched last Thursday, it rose to #4 in the App Store\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n Miles and Daniel appeared in screengrabs shared on X by user @pspthe2nd, whose post alleged that the app \u201cuse[s] AI models to promote fake interest #goose<\/a>.\u201d 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.<\/p>\n 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, \u201cI thought he was just a normal gay guy.\u201d He became suspicious, however, after Alistair DMed him inviting him to join a \u201ccurated network of guys\u201d at Goose, sending him an invite code. A SynthID check found that \u201cmost or all\u201d of Alistair\u2019s profile photo was generated using Google AI.<\/p>\n 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\u2014a typical indication of inauthentic accounts. Many of the accounts also frequently comment on each other\u2019s photos, including the same heart and fire emojis.<\/p>\n 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,<\/a> who works in marketing and received a DM from a user named @lucalepkowski. \u201cHey! Okay this might feel random but felt you\u2019d be interested :),\u201d the message begins before inviting Bauer to the Goose community, using language identical to that of the one Cheam received from Alistair.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n