Instagram founders are still running their AI news app, Artifact, that should be killed by now

[Coloroscopio]

Artifact, the AI-powered brainchild of Instagram co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, might be back from the brink. Just two months after announcing its demise, Artifact is defying the odds and (possibly) giving news curation another shot.

 

Artifact, launched in 2023, aimed to revolutionize news consumption with its personalized recommendations and focus on in-depth articles. The app, praised for its clean design and user-friendly interface, garnered a loyal following but struggled to gain widespread adoption. The already crowded news aggregation market, dominated by established players like Apple News and Google News, proved too difficult to crack.

 

However, Systrom recently told TechCrunch the app is now running on minimal resources, with him and Krieger at the helm. They’re exploring various options, including a potential sale.

 

Quote

It takes a lot less to run it than we had imagined… It will still likely go away, but we’re exploring all possible routes for it going forward.

 

 

Maybe a knight in shining armor, in the shape of a venture capitalist with a checkbook, will emerge to save the day?

 

Artifact’s initial appeal stemmed from its innovative use of AI to curate news from trusted sources. It offered cool features like summarizing articles and demystifying clickbait headlines. 

 

Although its creators said the app would wind down in February, it appears to still be running. Today’s Artifact is a pared-down version, minus the social features like commenting and posting. But the core functionality—news reading and AI summarization—remains. 

 

Have you used Artifact? What are your hopes for its future?

 

• https://techcrunch.com/2024/03/26/instagram-co-founders-ai-powered-news-app-artifact-may-not-be-shutting-down-after-all/
• https://www.thurrott.com/mobile/300058/artifact-never-shut-down-and-now-it-may-keep-going

 

 

Image: Kevin Systrom