Yahoo acquires news discovery platform from Instagram co-founders
Artifact will be integrated into the Yahoo ecosystem, ending its operation as an independent app.
Yahoo has completed the acquisition of Artifact, the AI-driven news aggregation and discovery platform established by Instagram co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger.
Artifact will be integrated into the Yahoo ecosystem, ending its operation as an independent app.
Over the coming months, the proprietary AI-driven personalisation technology and other features developed by Artifact will be brought across various Yahoo platforms, including the Yahoo News app.
Yahoo’s acquisition of Artifact closed on 29 March. Artifact’s co-founders, CEO Systrom and CTO Krieger, will work with Yahoo in an advisory capacity during the transition.
Artifact’s AI-powered discovery engine surfaces content users most want to see and becomes more attuned to people’s interests over time, giving them a personalised feed of news stories that helps users discover stories they want to read.
In addition to curation, Artifact brings a host of features aimed at improving the quality of the experience, from easy-access to top news, to link-sharing capabilities, to tools to prevent clickbait proliferation.
“Yahoo was one of the first to combine human and algorithmic curation of news. Since then, the landscape of machine learning and personalisation has changed dramatically and Artifact has innovated with best-in-class technology to meet the moment,” said Kat Downs Mulder, SVP and general manager of Yahoo News.
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“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.”
Kevin Systrom, CEO and co-founder of Artifact added: “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.
“AI has allowed us to give users a better experience discovering great content they care about. Yahoo recognises that opportunity, and we could not be more excited to see what we’ve built live on through Yahoo News.”
