Yahoo bought Artifact: AI-Powered News App from Instagram Co-Founders

Yahoo has acquired the news app Artifact from the co-founders of Instagram. As a result, the application will no longer operate as a stand-alone product. In the coming months, Yahoo plans to integrate Artifact’s AI personalization technology and additional features into various products, including Yahoo News.

The terms of the deal, which closed last week, were not disclosed. During the transition, Yahoo, the parent company of Engadget, will seek advice from Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, the founders of Artifact.

According to a press release from Artifact, CEO Systrom stated, “AI has allowed us to provide users with a better experience in discovering great content they care about.” Yahoo acknowledges this opportunity, and we are eager to see our creation come to life on Yahoo News.

When Artifact first launched in January of last year, it gained traction due to its robust discovery feature, which presented articles of general interest. Over time, the app aimed to enhance its customized news feed by integrating other AI-powered features, such as news summaries, with considerable success.

However, Artifact’s success did not match the rapid growth of Instagram’s. Despite efforts to boost its user base with social features like voting in comments and profiles, Artifact failed to achieve significant traction. Although Systrom and Krieger initially announced their intention to shut down Artifact in January, they continued to operate it independently before ultimately selling it.

Interestingly, Yahoo acquired Summly, another AI-powered news summarization app, over ten years ago. Similarly, Yahoo discontinued Summly and integrated its technology into other offerings.