AI-powered news app Artifact could continue operating in the social media domain. The platform, launched by Instagram co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, announced in January that it would close due to a lack of market potential; however, it has continued to operate beyond February 2024, its scheduled shutdown.

Systrom claims that Krieger and himself continue to support Artifact and have not given up on the app's further development. This development sparked optimism among fans of the news app.

Kevin Systrom stated that Artifact consumes fewer resources than initially anticipated, given that he and Krieger are currently the sole operators of the app. Though they are looking at every possible option to keep Artifact running, he noted that it "will still likely go away," per TechCrunch.

What Went Wrong with Artifact?

Artifact was the Instagram co-founders' debut social app. It used artificial intelligence (AI) to customize news discovery, offering features like news summaries in many formats and the ability to rewrite clickbait headlines for clarity.

Artifact sought to differentiate itself with AI-driven features, but it could not forge a distinct identity. The app struggled to position itself as an AI-driven news aggregator, a debate forum, or a link-exchanging tool, according to Firstpost.

This ambiguity and the challenges associated with content filtering severely hampered Artifact's scalability.

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Notably, there has been a sharp increase in interest in AI-powered news summarization since Artifact announced that it was closing. As investor interest in this area grows, firms including Arc, Feeeed, Bulletin, and Particle have included AI technologies to improve news reading.

Initially self-funded by its creators, Artifact has been able to continue operations with the collected money, at least in the short term. Despite removing social functions like posting and commenting, the platform still allows users to browse news and use AI summary tools.

Users Are Not Interested

When Artifact was first introduced in January 2023, its primary goal was to provide a curated feed of "news, fact, and AI," using machine learning to provide relevant articles from journalists. 

However, Christianna Silva of Mashable noted that the app's functionality had been extended by April of that year to incorporate content production tools, including customizable profiles, comment sections, and a voting system.

Silva noted that the introduction of Artifact's "reputation scores," (similar to Reddit) generated moderation issues and emphasized how difficult it is to imagine a news-only app that can compete with the gripping appeal of social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok.

Moreover, consumers and news industry experts initially praised Artifact, but the company found it difficult to stay afloat because of the frequent turnover on prominent social media platforms and the dwindling enthusiasm around artificial intelligence technology.

Artifact likely struggled to find a product-market fit due to increased competition in the Twitter-like chat platform industry and weak news aggregator growth.

After the announcement of Artifact's shutdown, Systrom expressed optimism for the future and a desire to pursue new projects in artificial intelligence.

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