Artifact, the news aggregation app developed by Instagram co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, is set to shut down just a year after its launch in January 2023.
In a recent blog post announcing the closure, Systrom cited the app's loyal user base but explained that the market opportunity wasn't substantial enough to justify ongoing investment. Despite building a product that resonated with a core group of users, the overall outlook didn't support continued development.
"We have created something that a dedicated user base loves, but we have come to the conclusion that the market opportunity isn't significant enough to justify continued investment in this manner," Systrom expressed. Over the past year, Artifact introduced various features, such as AI-driven article summaries, the ability to comment on and flag articles as clickbait, and a Twitter-like posting function. However, the latter features necessitated extensive moderation, which proved challenging for Artifact's small 8-person team.
To facilitate the transition, Artifact will gradually wind down its features in the coming weeks, beginning with disabling the ability to create new posts and comments.
Existing posts will remain visible temporarily as the team works to reduce moderation needs. The core news aggregation function will continue until the end of February, providing users with time to explore alternative services.
Despite the shutdown, Systrom remains optimistic about the future and expressed personal excitement about exploring new ideas in the AI space, which he sees as full of possibilities. The fierce competition in the market for Twitter-like conversation platforms and the sluggish growth of news aggregators likely contributed to Artifact's struggle in finding a clear product-market fit.
While Artifact attempted to set itself apart with AI-powered features like rewritten article summaries, its identity never solidified into a coherent offering. The app struggled to define itself as a conversation platform, link-sharing service, or AI-enhanced news engine. This lack of focus, coupled with the challenges of content moderation, made scaling a formidable task for Artifact.