The Artifact news app, launched a year ago by the co-founders of Instagram, is set to wind down operations. Despite having built a product cherished by a core group of users, the Artifact team has decided that the market opportunity is insufficient for continued investment.
“We’ve built something that a core group of users love, but we have concluded that the market opportunity isn’t big enough to warrant continued investment,” said Artifact CEO Kevin Systrom, the former co-founder of Instagram.
Artifact, which recently received recognition as the everyday essential app of the year by the Google Play Store, was developed by a small team of eight. Systrom applauded the efforts of his engineers and designers, acknowledging their significant contributions to the app’s development.
Ahead of the app’s shutdown, Artifact has begun scaling back its features, including the removal of the ability to add new comments and posts. The app will, however, maintain its core news reading functionality until the end of February. Users’ existing posts will remain visible on their profiles.
Systrom reflected on the broader challenges facing the news and information sector, highlighting the struggles of many publications and the diminishing presence of local news. He expressed hope that technology, particularly advancements in AI, could help support and grow these institutions.
He remains optimistic about the future of technology in this space, stating, “I am certain there are bright minds working on ideas that will continue to surprise and delight us.”
Consider this announcement part of the ongoing tech sector layoffs we’ve seen to start 2024. Google recently announced 1,000 layoffs, Twitch said it would cut 500 jobs, Discord 170 layoffs, Prime Video at 500, Duolingo, Humane, 1,700 layoffs at Unity and more.
