Yahoo! News was the staple of the digital realm.
While it still holds its ground in the vast landscape of online news platforms, by covering a wide array of topics, from politics and current affairs to entertainment and lifestyle, it may not the the first source that springs to mind for breaking news these days, especially in the world occupied by engaging social media and powerful search engines.
While Yahoo! News can provide valuable insights into ongoing events, trending topics, and even offer opinion pieces that spark some engaging discussions, it very hard to compete on the internet.
From fake news that plague the web, to malinformation that is made to mislead, being relevant is hard.
In the world that is experiencing a rise in AI, Yahoo! doesn't want to be left behind.
As a result of this, Artifact shall no longer operate as a standalone app, and its proprietary AI-powered personalization technology shall all be integrated across Yahoo!, including the Yahoo! News app. And because of the acquisition, both Systrom and Krieger shall work with Yahoo! in an “advisory capacity” during this transition.
Systrom said in the press release that Artifact’s technology has the opportunity to benefit millions of people, and that the acquisition by Yahoo! "brings the scale to help the product achieve what we envisioned while upholding the belief that connecting people to the trusted sources of news and information is as critical as ever."
"Artifact has become a beloved product and we’re thrilled to be able to continue to grow that technology and further our mission of becoming the trusted guide to digital information and the best curator connecting people to the content that matters most to them," said Kat Downs Mulder, SVP and General Manager of Yahoo! News, in a press release.
Systrom added that the team of eight people working on Artifact "will go our separate ways."
He also said that he’s "personally excited to continue building new things," and says that the opportunities for new ideas in the realm of AI "seem limitless."
The announcement comes months after Artifact said in a blog post, that it would be winding down operations as the market opportunity wasn’t big enough to support is continued investment.
Artifact started off as a simple news app, which uses a technology that surfaces content users want to see and becomes more attuned to their interests over time.
As a result, users are able to receive a personalized feed of news stories that they want to read.
The app also included several AI tools to summarize news, rewrite clickbait headlines and surface the best content.
When Artifact was still active in development, the market is already crowded with numerous competitors, ranging from Twitter to Meta's Threads.
These powerful competitors are able to bring similar algorithms to Artifact.
But this is something Yahoo! kind of lacked.
By acquiring Artifact, Yahoo! is able to embed AI-powered recommendation engine into Yahoo! News, which now attracts a whopping 185 million readers per month. With the acquisition, Yahoo! News shall be able to use Artifact to recommend stories and other content based on what the reader is engaging with.
In Yahoo!'s words, this can accelerate "the opportunity to connect users with even richer content experiences and tailored personalization."
Yahoo! may not dominate like it once was. But still, it is able to compete.
And this acquisition can be a gamechanger.
By jumping onboard the AI bandwagon, Yahoo! wishes to make its products a lot better, at least in terms of experience.