Latest news with #Artifact
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
How Yahoo built AI-driven content discovery into its revamped news app
In April 2024, Yahoo acquired Artifact, a tool that uses AI to recommend news to readers. Yahoo folded Artifact's—which was cofounded by Instagram cofounders Mike Krieger and Kevin Systrom—into its revamped news app to help surface and curate content for readers. 5 Navy SEAL strategies to turn stress into success in any situation Going 'AI first' appears to be backfiring on Klarna and Duolingo Rite Aid closing stores update: See the list of 68 pharmacy locations that will shutter across 7 states Yahoo CEO Jim Lanzone came on the Most Innovative Companies podcast to talk about the acquisition, the company's approach to news curation, and what the future could hold for the private equity-owned company. This interview has been edited and condensed. This embedded content is not available in your region. Yahoo acquired news discovery platform Artifact last year. Now, the technology is used in Yahoo's revamped news app. Why did you acquire the platform? Artifact had come up as a startup founded by the Instagram cofounders. It used AI and advanced algorithms to pull in really great content and also do a great job of surfacing it. When we read that they were going to shut it down, I reached out to Kevin Systrom immediately to say we should talk about acquiring it. We basically took the backbone of the Artifact app and made it the Yahoo News app. We look to acquire companies if they can fill a gap for us. We're not in the game of acquihires. It has to be a product fit. We're the No. 1 news publication in the U.S. in terms of total traffic. We got to that point by being an aggregator. We're aggregating thousands of sources and then using algorithms to surface the right ones for each of our millions of users. With Artifact, how are you using AI to personalize a user's newsfeed? We hope the end user doesn't think about it at all. It's just about the Yahoo News app getting smarter at delivering the right content to you at the right time. We're very pro publisher and we are a big part of the ecosystem. We send them traffic and give them revenue as part of it. We've been doing that for over 20 years. That is, in some ways, pro publisher, but AI summaries come up on search and articles get summarized via bullet points. That means users may not actually read the articles, and media companies will get fewer page views. I would think about it a little bit differently. If you go back to the beginning of how Yahoo has always worked with publishers, we're a huge part of the ecosystem in sending traffic out. It's very important to us to keep the ecosystem very healthy, at least how it historically was. I understand your point, and certainly that's a new factor for publishers to worry about in terms of AI companies sucking in all their data. Everything we do is with the publisher. We brought all of our publisher relationships to Artifact. Even when there's a summary, it's not trying to [stop people looking at] the article, it is trying to pull out the highlights of [the article]. We will also summarize a topic across publishers just for helpful understanding. But again, it all goes back to sending people down the funnel to [media] properties. But they would only go down that funnel if they want to learn more, right? I don't know how much time you've spent with any of these apps, but I'd say they're bullet points, short tidbits at the top. They're really not summarizing the whole article. A news algorithm designed for people can contribute to their biases. Yahoo's role is nonpartisan, but how do you think about balancing the goal of providing a customer service with preventing the information that only reinforces a reader's beliefs? We think a lot about it. We try to be very nonpartisan. It's a hard job. One of the signs we're getting it right is I get nasty emails from people on both sides. Part of our job with the algorithm is to make sure readers don't go too [far] into the rabbit hole and that [they] actually can continue to see a balance of things. At the same time, our job is to customize for them as an individual, so the algorithms take that into account. But there are a couple other things happening. We also balance [AI curation with] human curation, which is part of Yahoo being the trusted guide for all these years. Then of course, we are working with trusted publishers that we have long standing relationships with—not sharing user generated content. How does the app fit into Yahoo's business strategy? In any given month, we are usually the No. 2 ranked property on comScore in the US multiplatform or in the top five across desktop and mobile. We're in the top five with Gen Z, and 90% of internet users in the US touch Yahoo in any given month. So monetization of one property is not our issue. We monetize very well. Most of it's through advertising, like with any major freemium publisher or product. A certain percentage of our users subscribe to our more premium offerings in given categories like sports or finance or email. News is just a part of that. You've said job No. 1 is making every one of these products and brands under Yahoo superstrong on their own within the categories in which they operate. There've been news reports saying you might want to spin off different products and take them public. There've been other reports saying you might want to take the company public as a whole. I guess I'm trying to get a sense of what you think the future is for Yahoo. I would answer that maybe two ways. It's our job to create value and grow the business, which 30 years old. But for those who don't know, we were spun out of Verizon by Apollo, the world's largest private equity firm in September 2021, then I came in as CEO. Most private equity firms want returns. There are two ways to get a return. If you're a private equity firm, you could go public or you can sell. It is also possible that your investors feel that they have a tiger by the tail and want to hold out longer. I've founded startups, I've worked at big public companies. It doesn't matter the size of your company, the name of the game is growth either way. That's also a sign of a healthy company. It's a sign that you're delivering for users. We'll create a very valuable company, whether it's us stand-alone going public, or it's someone acquiring the company. That said, we definitely have inbounds all the time, especially because it is owned by private equity of people trying to pick off part of our pieces of our company. Part of the private equity game is probably to listen to everybody and understand what your options are. Every search engine tech company that puts out any kind of content or that aggregates content is partnering with LLMs like Open AI or Anthropic. Who are you partnering with? Going back to the late 2000s, Yahoo has had a longstanding relationship with Microsoft, which led to an easy relationship with Microsoft copilot. We have the second largest email platform after Gmail, it's in the hundreds of millions of users. Even a year before Apple announced this Apple Intelligence series of products that would show up in their mail product, we announced AI in Yahoo Mail, helping you search mail, summarize it, write, edit, and more. That partnership was done with OpenAI. We also are partners with Anthropic, with Google, and others on other products that we have. We work with everybody so far and we'll continue to do so. We're also internally building a bunch of our own AI products. I think it's too important to leave it purely to third parties. We have to have our own expertise there. This post originally appeared at to get the Fast Company newsletter: Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Fast Company
12-05-2025
- Business
- Fast Company
How Yahoo built AI-driven content discovery into its revamped news app
In April 2024, Yahoo acquired Artifact, a tool that uses AI to recommend news to readers. Yahoo folded Artifact's—which was cofounded by Instagram cofounders Mike Krieger and Kevin Systrom—into its revamped news app to help surface and curate content for readers. Yahoo CEO Jim Lanzone came on the Most Innovative Companies podcast to talk about the acquisition, the company's approach to news curation, and what the future could hold for the private equity-owned company. This interview has been edited and condensed. Artifact had come up as a startup founded by the Instagram cofounders. It used AI and advanced algorithms to pull in really great content and also do a great job of surfacing it. When we read that they were going to shut it down, I reached out to Kevin Systrom immediately to say we should talk about acquiring it. We basically took the backbone of the Artifact app and made it the Yahoo News app. We look to acquire companies if they can fill a gap for us. We're not in the game of acquihires. It has to be a product fit. We're the No. 1 news publication in the U.S. in terms of total traffic. We got to that point by being an aggregator. We're aggregating thousands of sources and then using algorithms to surface the right ones for each of our millions of users.
South China Morning Post
26-03-2025
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
Your Hong Kong weekend drinks guide for March 27-29
It's a big weekend for Hong Kong: bartenders aren't the only visitors in town. The Hong Kong Sevens rugby tournament kicks off at its new home, Kai Tak Stadium, for the first time in its history. To celebrate, Honky Tonks are hosting an unofficial opening party, while visitors from Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur are popping up at Artifact and The Opposites to round out a weekend of revelry. Thursday, March 27 Honky Hootenanny Unofficial HK7s Opener Expect revelry at Honky Tonks Tavern with the Sevens tournament back in town. Photo: Handout What: Although the Sevens tournament is moving across the harbour from So Kon Po to Kai Tak, there's no reason not to retain some of the celebrations on Hong Kong Island. To that end, Honky Tonks Tavern is hosting an unofficial opening party with food, drinks and music ahead of kick-off. Look forward to treats such as their Backyard Burgers, corn dogs, fried pickles and more. Advertisement Where: Honky Tonks Tavern, Man Hing Lane, Central When: 5-11pm Friday, March 28 Golden Tooth x Artifact The interior of Artifact, designed by Nelson Chow of NC Design + Architecture, evokes the rib cage of a colossal animal. Photo: courtesy of NCDA What: Artifact may have just hosted a Artifact may have just hosted a ComplexCon after-party, but they show no sign of slowing down – this time celebrating their second anniversary by bringing in The Golden Tooth's co-founder Kenny Soetomo. The 'cocktail and chats' Jakartan bar comes to Hong Kong as part of a four-city tour through Hong Kong and China. Expect a high-energy evening supported by Jim Beam, Roku Gin and Campari. Where: LG/F, Jardine House, 1 Connaught Place, Central Advertisement When: 8-11.30pm Saturday, March 29
South China Morning Post
19-02-2025
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
Your Hong Kong weekend drinks guide for February 20-22
Published: 5:00pm, 19 Feb 2025 Now that the winter holiday season is finally over, it's time to wait out the cold – starting with a flurry of guest shifts this weekend. Shanghai is visiting twice, with the city's branch of Coa dropping by Artifact on Thursday, while across-the-border newcomer Pony Up celebrates World Margarita Day at Dead Poets on Saturday. In between, Avoca at the Mondrian is hosting Singapore stalwart 28 HongKong Street for a Friday night across the harbour. Thursday, February 20 Shanghai Nights – Artifact x Coa Shanghai Artifact is celebrating Margarita Month with Coa Shanghai on February 20. Photo: NCDA What: The first of two Shanghainese guests coming to Hong Kong actually hails from a home-grown concept. To celebrate Margarita Month, Coa Shanghai's Tan Tan is getting behind the bar – not on Coa's home turf though, but at Artifact. Start the weekend's tequila-fuelled festivities there, courtesy of Olmeca Altos tequila and Six Days Distro. Where: Artifact, Shop 5 & 7, LG/F, Jardine House, 1 Connaught Place, Central When: 8pm till late Friday, February 21 Avoca x 28 HongKong Street Naz of Singapore's 28 HongKong Street will be in our city for a guest shift at Avoca on February 21. Photo: Handout What: Across the harbour, Avoca at the Mondrian is hosting two of Singapore's finest – Naz and Ben – from one of that city's most decorated watering holes, 28 HongKong Street. Together, they'll be serving up a menu focused on intriguing uses of Michter's rye whiskey and bourbon. The Corn Job, for instance, features the rye whiskey, corn orgeat, ancho verde, Pedro Ximénez sherry and lemon juice, while the sweet Butter Be Nice focuses on butter-washed Michter's bourbon with Galliano Vanilla liqueur, salted maple syrup and chocolate bitters. Where: Avoca, 38/F, Mondrian, 8A Hart Avenue, Tsim Sha Tsui When: 7pm – 10pm Saturday, February 22 Dead Poets x Pony Up Dre Yang, co-founder of Shanghai's Pony Up, will be at Dead Poets on World Margarita Day, February 22. Photo: Instagram
