Yahoo has acquired Artifact, an AI-driven news aggregation and discovery app that was created by Instagram co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger. The acquisition focuses on obtaining Artifact"s proprietary technology rather than its 8-member team.
Kevin Systrom, CEO and Co-Founder of Artifact, said:
“We built an intuitive product experience that users love and has the opportunity to benefit millions of people. 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"
The app, which was launched last year, offered users to link their contacts and see what others are reading, among various other features. It also used AI to summarize long news stories in a few bullet points. Artifact had earlier announced that its app would be phased out, but its underlying technology will be leveraged by Yahoo to improve its news services as per the acquisition.
Kat Downs Mulder, SVP and General Manager of Yahoo News, said:
“Yahoo was one of the first to combine human and algorithmic curation of news. Since then, the landscape of machine learning and personalization has changed dramatically and Artifact has innovated with best-in-class technology to meet the moment.
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.”
Yahoo will use Artifact"s technology for categorizing, curating, and personalizing content on Yahoo News and other platforms. Artifact"s AI-powered discovery engine creates a news feed for readers while also attuning to their interests over time. Artifact also featured things such as tools to prevent clickbait proliferation, easy sharing capabilities, and more - all of which Yahoo can now leverage to separate itself from the herd.
Both the co-founders, CEO Kevin Systrom and CTO Mike Krieger, will work with Yahoo as advisors during this transition.