Originally launched in January 2023, Artifact, an AI news app created by the co-founders of Instagram, was a robust and effective platform for curating news recommendations for readers, yet it faced challenges in expanding its reach. Yahoo, on the other hand, boasts a vast audience of hundreds of millions but is in search of a technological edge to distinguish itself from the myriad of news aggregators online.
Now the two sides are joining forces and have announced that Yahoo will be acquiring Artifact. The news came from both companies in a joint announcement. The cost of the transaction remains unclear since Yahoo and Artifact are tight-lipped about the matter, but what’s clear is that Yahoo is interested in Artifact’s tech rather than its workforce.
Artifact’s co-founders Mike Krieger and Kevin Systrom will act as “special advisors” for Yahoo, but will not be an official part of Yahoo’s team. Meanwhile, the other 5 workers at Artifact have either secured alternative jobs or have decided to take a break.
The news comes only three months after Artifact’s death and a little over a year after its initial launch. During its shutdown in January, the co-founders announced: “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.”
The reason behind this shutdown, as mentioned by Systrom and Krieger, was so they could focus on “newer, bigger, and better things that have the ability to reach many millions of people.”
The co-founders had made their shutdown announcement without any intentions to sell off Artifact or make any money out of it. But soon afterward, companies started reaching out to Systrom and he had a total of 10 conversations with different companies.
Yahoo emerged as a key player in this scenario. The interest in acquiring Artifact was sparked within the company after officials, including Kat Downs Mulder, Yahoo News’ General Manager, came across the letter announcing its shutdown.
Following the acquisition, the Artifact application will be discontinued. However, the core technology that Artifact developed for sorting, curating, and tailoring content will begin to integrate into Yahoo News. Over time, this technology is expected to extend across other Yahoo platforms as well.
Via: The Verge
