SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- The San Francisco dating scene has once again made national headlines. A founder of an AI-powered dating app went viral for releasing "San Francisco's Hot List." Known Co-Founder and CEO Celeste Amadon dropped the list of "SF's most dateable people" on Aug. 31. The X post ha s since garnered more than 2.5 million views. "For the past year, I've been keeping a list of SF's most dateable people. It's time the public sees it," Amadon wrote on the social media platform. "I have my picks, but want to see if I'm missing anyone." The list included what you expect from a crop of young professionals/singles in San Francisco -- a lot of tech founders and entrepreneurs. However, the list received some vitriol from online users, calling the list shallow and superficial. Some accused Amadon's list of being based solely on looks, money and status. Amadon provided five pillars of what makes someone "hot." Attraction Ambition Accomplishment Reputation Aura The first drop released 10 people on the list. There have been three list drops, making the total number of "San Francisco's Hot List" 40 individuals, a mixture of men and women. According to Amadon, there have been almost 25,000 nominations submitted. You can nominate yourself, a friend and even a total stranger. "Final selections are made by Known and updated on a daily basis," Known's website states. Some members on the list didn't even know they were on it. For all we know, some of them might already be in relationships and are off the market. (No way to verify that through AI) San Francisco's Hot List Members React Ariana Pineda, 23, was featured on the viral San Francisco's Hot List. (Screenshot of Known's website) Ariana Pineda, a verified San Francisco's Hot List member who is single and a product manager at Google, found out about the list through her friend in New York City -- not knowing she was nominated. "I have no idea how I got on that list because I just moved to SF a few weeks ago," Pineda, 23, tells KRON4. "I created an X account two days before that list came out. I posted an intro post... to meet interesting people (in the city)." To this day, she still doesn't know how she got on the list and isn't aware of her friends nominating her. Pineda did admit that "obviously everyone on the list is very attractive." "It was a pleasant surprise," Pineda said. "Is this the new (Forbes') 30 Under 30?" It might as well be, as nearly half of the 40-member list are founders of a company. Sofia Pavlidou, a co-founder of AI startup Taim, is originally from Greece and just moved to San Francisco in July. Like Pineda, she had no idea about the list until it had already dropped. Sofia Pavlidou, 26, was featured on the viral San Francisco's Hot List. (Screenshot of Known's website) "It wasn't exactly the nomination I was looking for. I didn't know this list existed. I had two of my friends send this to me. Just happy to be featured, I guess. It was fun to see it," Pavlidou, 26, said with a smile. Within days after the list dropped, Pavlidou has already made connections with other members of the list. (No, not one with another man). She said a couple of women on the list, fellow ambitious techies, reached out to her and now they are friends. "We're creating a girl gang now," Pavlidou said. Since dropping the list more than a week ago, San Francisco's Hot List has made national headlines in WIRED and The New York Post. However, it has not all been for the right reasons. Online controversy erupts around new SF dating website that pairs white men with Asian women Screenshot of Known's website that is headlined by "San Francisco's Hot List."AI told me to buy the wrong printer ink, then told me to lie to get a refund The national discourse -- whether it is true or not -- about dating in San Francisco's tech-filled environment is that singles, especially men, are awkward and prefer to hide behind dating apps rather than in-person interactions. And daters are judged based on how much money they make is the perception. "Many men simply won’t or do not know how to approach or charm a woman. They don’t get any more charming post college. But they are making >$500k," one woman replied to a viral tweet about Silicon Valley escort culture. "guys in sf: will ask a vc for $5M," one X post read. "Won’t ask a girl for her number." “The solution to dating in SF is to leave SF,” a female tech worker posted on X. However, others may be seeing the dating scene in another light -- at least from the woman's perspective. The WIRED headline states that "Silicon Valley Is Having 'A Hot Girl Renaissance.'" "A San Francisco “Hot List” is trying to buck stereotypes about dating in tech circles amid wider debates about the value of being perceived as attractive," the outlet writes. ‘Fare Required’: Why is Muni putting up this obvious sign on buses? Known Founder Speaks Out Part of the reason Amadon launched Hot List is to challenge the narrative around San Francisco's dating scene. Given its mixed reaction, with some feeling like the list was shallow and superficial, Amadon felt the need to defend the list she released. "I was trying to challenge a narrative so deeply ingrained in this city that I knew it would take something provocative to get people’s attention," Amadon wrote in a Substack article published Thursday, 10 days after the list dropped. Amadon defined "hotness" as something more than just a person's looks. "To us, hotness is an energy, an attitude, a way of being," she wrote. "It’s the way someone walks into a room or makes you feel seen when talking to them. It’s being wildly ambitious and low-ego. It’s the story behind why someone chose their career or the way they light up talking about their latest obsession. "It is an unmistakable quality that can rarely be conveyed solely through a photograph or by scrolling on a screen." KRON4 requested to interview Amadon but did not hear back. We also tried to reach the men on the "Hot List," but only one of them agreed to an interview and was not available in time for publication. "We hope San Francisco’s Hot List inspires you to reconsider all that this city’s singles have to offer, and to stay open to the possibility that someone might surprise you," Amadon concluded the article. Known's "Hot List" is not the only recent controversy surrounding San Francisco's dating scene. The website "WMAF Meet" went viral last month when it launched as a platform to pair specifically "Western" men and Asian women. ...read more read less