Artifact’s Journey: A Year of Innovation Ends as Instagram Founders Close AI-Driven News App

Just a year after its launch, Instagram creators Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger have decided to shut down Artifact, the news platform turned social network, Despite leveraging artificial intelligence to deliver customized content, Artifact didn’t achieve enough popularity to ensure its sustainability.

Over the year, Artifact’s founders faced challenges similar to those in the news app industry, as Systrom noted, although the app garnered a dedicated user base, the market didn’t provide enough opportunity for sustainable investment.

The app’s closure phase has begun, halting the addition of new comments or posts, however, users can still read news until the end of February.

Since its launch, Artifact introduced exciting new features, including AI-supported article summaries, in-app commenting on articles, and highlighting engaging content, as the app expanded to include features like link sharing and Twitter-like posts, it seemed to lose focus as a simple news platform, consequently finding itself competing with similar apps like Meta and X.

Systrom emphasizes that features like comments and posts require extensive moderation, exceeding the limited capabilities of the app’s small team, despite Artifact’s closure, the Instagram founders see vast potential for innovation in AI, hinting at the development of new projects in this field.

Although the app’s journey ended prematurely, Artifact won admiration from journalists and reporters for unique features like author-specific pages, it also gained prominent visibility in Apple’s and Google’s app stores, underscoring its value in the digital news sector.

Thus, the curtain falls on the Artifact project, but the door remains open for more innovation in the world of technology and digital news, with anticipation for what the Instagram founders will bring in the future.