
Artifact, the social network initially conceived as a news aggregator by Instagram's founders, is closing down. In a blog post on Friday, the startup explained that it had opted to "wind down operations" due to the perceived lack of a substantial market opportunity. The app, which transformed from a news reading app to a curation and news discovery platform, allowed users to become content creators by finding interesting web gems for others to engage with. Despite employing AI tools for news summarization and headline rewriting, the product's evolution seemed to dilute its original value as a simple news app. The end result resembled more of a Twitter replacement, competing in a market with various rivals, including Instagram's Threads. Instagram and Artifact co-founder Kevin Systrom acknowledged that startups often struggle to recognize market realities and emphasized the importance of making tough decisions early. He expressed personal excitement about exploring new ventures in a time where AI is revolutionizing various aspects of our lives. To facilitate the transition, the app will gradually disable features such as commenting and posting, with core news capabilities remaining until the end of February. Despite increased competition in the Twitter rival landscape, the shutdown also reflects a broader trend of reduced usage in news aggregators, with SmartNews facing challenges in 2023. Systrom noted the changing landscape of news consumption with the rise of AI and the legal implications for publishers whose content is used in training AI models like OpenAI's ChatGPT. Artifact's failure to clearly define its identity may have contributed to a missed opportunity to capture users' attention, as users struggled to integrate the app into their daily workflows. Despite the closure, Systrom believes news and information remain crucial areas for startup investment, expressing confidence that other innovative minds are working on ideas in this domain.
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