Having learned nothing from previous industry attempts to pivot to things that weren't "human beings writing things for others to read", in 2023 Buzzfeed– once one of the biggest media properties on the planet--went all-in on AI.
In a memo to staff sent in January 2023, boss Jonah Peretti wrote:
In 2023, you’ll see AI inspired content move from an R&D stage to part of our core business, enhancing the quiz experience, informing our brainstorming, and personalizing our content for our audience.
That announcement very briefly juiced the company's share price, because if there's one thing investors love, it's layoffs, and whenever a business goes hard on AI, layoffs aren't far behind. And hey, just a few months later (in April 2023) Buzzfeed laid off 15% of its staff and closed down its once-great news department. In May 2023, Peretti doubled down:
Over the next few years, generative AI will replace the majority of static content, and audiences will begin to expect all content to be curated and dynamic with embedded intelligence. AI will lead to new formats that are more gamified, more personalized, and more interactive.
That spike was very short-lived. In the years since--years where you may now be thinking, man, I forgot Buzzfeed were even still around--the company's output has unsurprisingly turned to shit, as Futurism explain:
Reality soon set in. The AI quizzes were underwhelming, and the site was soon caught publishing entire AI-generated articles that were sloppy and repetitive. After the initial spike in enthusiasm, the company’s stock took a massive beating; as of this week, its shares are hovering around 70 cents.
Now, three years after its AI pivot, the writing is on the wall. The company reported a net loss of $57.3 million in 2025 in an earnings report released on Thursday. In an official statement, the company glumly hinted at the possibility of going under sooner rather than later, writing that “there is substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern.”
This would be one of the funniest "Oh no! Anyway" moments in modern business, were it not for the fact that the company's demise--engineered by stupid men who will change a company's entire direction at the sound of some jingling keys and a glint of light--has come at the cost of people's careers and livelihoods.
