- Instagram founders shut down their AI news app Artifact after 1 year.
- Extensive content moderation strained the 8-person staff despite a core user base.
- Competitiveness likely hindered growth without clearly defining itself as conversation or news platform.
Artifact, the AI-powered news aggregation app created by Instagram co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, announced it would shut down operations just 12 months after launching.
Systrom explained in a blog post that while a core user base loved Artifact, the overall market opportunity did not warrant continued investment.
Challenges and operational strain
After debuting in January 2022, Artifact sought to leverage AI to reinvent online news consumption. Over the past year, features like article summaries, clickbait tagging, and Twitter-esque posting were added.
However, extensive content moderation strained Artifact’s tiny 8-person staff. The app will start winding down components over the next few weeks before fully shuttering at the end of February.
Future prospects and competitive landscape
Despite the shutdown, Systrom remained upbeat about the future, noting excitement about exploring fresh ideas in the flourishing AI domain. Still, Artifact likely struggled to stand out against rivals in crowded spaces like news aggregation and social posting.
Without clearly defining itself as a conversation platform or AI news engine, Artifact never found a product-market fit to scale further.
The increased competitiveness of both verticals probably hindered Artifact’s growth efforts amid a cooling funding environment. Instagram’s founders seem ready to apply lessons learned on their next venture capital-backed gambit in AI.
