Yesterday, news of Yahoo's acquisition of Artifact stirred the technology water cooler. Artifact was an interesting app that employed AI to help users discover and consume more and more targeted news. Although it had some devoted fans, it never reached the scale that would make it an attractive long-term project. So the founders who built Instagram decided to retire the service.
TechCrunch's parent company, Yahoo, then decided to capitalize on the technology. The app itself hasn't been around for that long, but the deal is still an echo of an older era when Yahoo was famous for acquiring small, mobile-focused companies.
Whether you're an Artifact user or not, and I was at one point, it's important to note that Yahoo still feels acquired under its current ownership structure. As it turns out, Artifact isn't the only startup project looking for a new home in today's market.