Less than a year after its release, Artefact, the popular news app from Instagram co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, is closing. Systrom stated in a Medium article that while the app’s “core news reading” functionality will remain available online until the end of February, uploading and commenting would be disabled right away.
In addition to having a well-known founding team, the app was well-known for its AI-focused features and its ability to publish and comment similarly to Reddit. The app had garnered positive reviews from reporters who valued features that were specifically designed for reporters, such as author pages, and it was well-represented in both the Apple and Google app stores.
However, it appears that Systrom and Krieger had many of the same difficulties as previous creators of well-known news applications after a year of employment. “Although we have created something that a core user base finds appealing, we have determined that the market opportunity isn’t significant enough to support ongoing investment in this manner,” Systrom stated.
Systrom’s note implied that he would eventually take on a new AI-focused project, even if he didn’t specify what he might do next. He wrote, “As for me, I am excited to keep creating new things, though only time will tell what that might be.” “We are living in an exciting time where new ideas seem endless and artificial intelligence is changing almost everything we touch.”
Fans of Artefact will have a few more weeks to continue perusing the headlines until the app permanently disappears.
Their website is now showing a black screen with that info about shutting down
