Yahoo Buys Instagram Co-Founders' AI News Platform Artifact

On Tuesday, Yahoo announced its acquisition of Artifact, an AI-driven news platform co-founded by Instagram's creators.

Earlier in January, Artifact announced via a blog post its decision to cease operations of its app.

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On Tuesday, Yahoo announced its acquisition of Artifact, an AI-driven news platform co-founded by Instagram's creators. Yahoo plans to integrate Artifact's technology throughout its news and other websites in the United States, the media has reported. This acquisition underscores ongoing challenges for media startups striving to increase revenue, particularly as Big Tech behemoths like Alphabet and Meta Platforms dominate the advertising market, says a report by news agency Reuters.

Earlier in January, Artifact announced via a blog post its decision to cease operations of its app, citing insufficient market opportunity to justify further investment in that direction.

The online publisher also holds a minority interest in the content recommendation platform Taboola. Yahoo, opting not to disclose financial specifics, was acquired by the private equity firm Apollo Global Management for $5 billion in 2021.

Yahoo, also the owner of known news brands such as TechCrunch, Engadget, and Yahoo Finance, expressed its intention to leverage Artifact's AI-powered recommendation engine and other capabilities to expand its news operations and offer personalised content to its audience.

Artifact was founded in early 2023 by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, former executives at Meta (previously Facebook), subsequent to Meta's acquisition of Instagram in 2012. Systrom and Krieger's departure from Meta in late 2018 reportedly stemmed from conflicts with Meta's CEO Mark Zuckerberg and differing visions for Instagram's trajectory.

In late 2018, the duo departed from the company owned by Facebook, a move that some media reports later attributed to their strained relationship with Meta's CEO Mark Zuckerberg and disparities in their visions for Instagram.

As announced by the company in a statement, Systrom and Krieger will provide advisory support to Yahoo during the transition period.