On Tuesday, Yahoo announced its acquisition of Artifact, a cutting-edge news platform developed by the co-founders of Instagram, leveraging artificial intelligence to curate news content.
Artifact is set to be integrated within Yahoo’s wide array of web services, including its news sites, highlighting the tech company’s effort to enhance its offerings through AI technology.
This move is indicative of the broader struggles faced by media startups in scaling their revenues, especially in a market dominated by Big Tech companies like Alphabet and Meta Platforms, which capture a significant share of advertising sales.
Artifact, which revealed plans to shut down its app operations in January due to limited market opportunities, is known for its AI-powered recommendation engine.
Yahoo, a veteran online publisher with properties such as TechCrunch, Engadget, and Yahoo Finance under its belt, aims to leverage Artifact’s innovative technology to improve its news delivery and offer personalized content to its audience.
Additionally, Yahoo holds a minority stake in Taboola, a content recommendation platform, further emphasizing its investment in content personalization and distribution technologies.
The financial terms of the Yahoo-Artifact deal were not disclosed by Yahoo, which was acquired by Apollo Global Management for $5 billion in 2021, marking a significant transition for the internet company.
Artifact’s inception in early 2023 by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, both formerly of Meta (previously Facebook), followed their departure from the social media giant in 2018 amid reported tensions with Meta’s leadership over the direction of Instagram.
As Yahoo integrates Artifact’s technologies, Systrom and Krieger are set to join Yahoo in an advisory role to facilitate the transition.
Their involvement suggests a continued commitment to innovating within the digital news space, even as their latest venture becomes part of Yahoo’s broader strategy to redefine news consumption through advanced AI-driven tools and platforms.