After less than a year of operation there appears to be no profitable way forward for AI news aggregator Artifact, and the service will close completely in the end of February.
Artifact interface on iPhone
Artifact launched in late February 2023 by Instagram co-founders Mike Kreiger and Kevin Systrom. The service had interesting features that didn't just present news to readers, but curated the feed based on likes.
Curation is a basic enough feature, but the service also provided Ai summaries of articles. Going beyond that, Artifact recently allowed users to rewrite articles posted on the service with Ai features as well.
"We have built something that a core group of users love, but we have concluded that the market opportunity isn't big enough to warrant continued investment in this way," Artifact CEO Kevin Systrom wrote Friday night on Medium. "It's easy for startups to ignore this reality, but often making the tough call earlier is better for everyone involved."
Prior to the complete shutdown, the company is trimming the app down. Going forward, the ability to add new comments and posts will be removed, cutting back on moderation labor that the company would otherwise need to supply in the short-term.
Existing posts will remain visible to the posters on the profile self-view. Core news viewing remains through the end of February 2024.
News of the shutdown was shared by Artifact CEO Kevin Systrom on Friday evening.