The AI graveyard: a running list of projects and startups that didn’t make it

Relay, an AI-powered workflow automation instrumentality built arsenic an alternate to Zapier, shut down wholly connected Monday. The merchandise fto users automate email and task workflows utilizing AI agents, but arsenic OpenAI, Google, and different larger platforms built akin automation straight into their ain tools, five-year-old Relay struggled to clasp onto a crushed to beryllium arsenic a standalone product.

Relay’s communicative — a startup outpaced by bigger platforms — is 1 mentation of the communicative playing retired close now. But plentifulness of AI bets ne'er adjacent past wrong the companies that physique them. According to S&P Global Market Intelligence, astir 42% of AI initiatives are yet abandoned by their firm parents. The reasons vary: insufficient funding, method challenges, competition, trouble scaling, oregon conscionable anemic idiosyncratic demand.

The effect is simply a increasing AI graveyard. Below is simply a look astatine immoderate of the astir notable AI products, startups, launches, and bets that person unopen down, pivoted, oregon importantly missed expectations. Think of it little arsenic a scorecard of flops than arsenic a grounds of what these attempts tin (hopefully) thatch the remainder of the industry.

OpenAI has taken respective stumbles

Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesImage Credits:SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg / Getty Images

Even the biggest players aren’t immune. OpenAI, 1 of the astir invaluable backstage companies successful the world, has had its ain stock of casualties and missteps. One of the much caller examples was its effort to crook ChatGPT into a broader “super app.” On July 9, OpenAI updated the app to harvester respective experiences, including abstracted “Chat,” “Codex,” and “Work” modes, portion renaming the traditional, acquainted mentation “ChatGPT Classic.”

The redesign rapidly drew criticism from users who recovered the caller interface confusing and cluttered, and OpenAI rolled backmost the alteration soon after, bringing the acquainted ChatGPT interface back.

That wasn’t OpenAI’s lone effort to propulsion everything nether 1 roof. The institution has besides unopen down respective standalone apps and folded their features straight into ChatGPT — a strategy that’s worked retired amended than the redesign did. ChatGPT Atlas, a standalone AI-powered web browser, lasted little than a twelvemonth earlier being discontinued connected August 9, with its astir utile features absorbed into ChatGPT

The institution did the aforesaid happening with Operator, an AI cause that could browse the web and implicit tasks connected a user’s behalf, and OpenAI has progressively built representation procreation straight into ChatGPT, shrinking the relation of DALL-E arsenic its ain abstracted destination for creating images.

We besides can’t hide its video-sharing platform, Sora, which struggled with precocious operating costs and user-retention challenges and unopen down successful March 2026.

Apple’s Siri AI

Photo by Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty ImagesImage Credits:Artur Widak/NurPhoto / Getty Images

When Apple unveiled Apple Intelligence successful 2024, an improved Siri was 1 of the highlighted features. The transportation promised a Siri that could recognize context, cognize what was happening crossed apps, and get tasks done effectively.

However, Apple repeatedly pushed back the merchandise of the caller Siri, citing assorted reasons similar engineering issues and bugs. This hold yet contributed to a $250 cardinal colony over claims regarding however Apple marketed the AI capabilities of the iPhone 16.

Siri AI yet appeared successful the iOS 27 beta this past July, with the caller AI-powered mentation rolling retired to English-language users archetypal this month; enactment for different languages is expected to follow.

Microsoft’s Recall

Announced astatine its 2024 Build developer conference, Microsoft’s Recall feature was pitched arsenic an AI-powered “photographic memory” for Windows PCs, periodically taking screenshots of what a idiosyncratic was doing truthful they could aboriginal hunt backmost done their ain integer history.

Predictably, the announcement triggered an contiguous backlash implicit privateness and security. Critics argued that Recall could make a searchable archive of highly delicate information, including passwords, backstage messages, fiscal details, and different activity. Microsoft delayed the diagnostic for astir a year, giving the institution clip to rethink its information and privateness protections. 

Even aft a redesign, the contention hasn’t gone away. A cybersecurity researcher precocious built a instrumentality that could extract and show data that Recall had captured, reviving questions astir whether Microsoft has really fixed the underlying problem.

Notion Mail

Notion Mail uses AI to assistance users absorption their inbox. Image Credits:Notion

Notion Mail launched successful April 2025 arsenic an AI-focused email merchandise designed to assistance users signifier and automate their inboxes. However, the institution noticed its users were utilizing abstracted AI agents to grip their email inboxes instead. As a result, Notion Mail is scheduled to unopen down connected September 22.

Humane AI Pin

Image Credits:Brian Heater

The Humane AI Pin is astir apt 1 of the astir well-known failures successful AI hardware. Designed to supply AI features done a wearable instrumentality alternatively than a accepted smartphone, Humane raised $230 cardinal from investors and garnered important attention. 

But the merchandise struggled mightily with performance, and the concern worsened erstwhile Humane warned customers to halt utilizing its charging lawsuit due to the fact that of a imaginable artillery occurrence risk. Humane past unopen down its AI Pin concern successful February 2025, with astir of the company’s assets acquired by HP for $116 million.

Rabbit R1

Image Credits:Rabbit

The Rabbit R1 was different heavy hyped AI device. Unveiled astatine CES successful January 2024, the AI companion was designed to execute tasks connected behalf of its owner. Rabbit said it had sold 100,000 units soon aft launch.

However, beardown archetypal income didn’t mean it was a beardown product. Early reviews described the instrumentality arsenic unfinished, with unreliable show and a constricted fig of utile integrations.

The institution hasn’t fixed up, though. It has continued updating the R1, positioning it arsenic a machine controller susceptible of performing agentic tasks. It besides precocious announced a caller hardware project, dubbed “Project Cyberdeck,” aimed astatine creating a portable instrumentality built for vibe-coding.

Huxe

Image Credits:Huxe

Huxe was an AI audio app, built by erstwhile developers of Google’s NotebookLM, that turned written accusation into conversational, podcast-style audio.

The institution shut down successful May 2026, partially arsenic larger platforms began offering akin experiences to ample existing audiences. For instance, Spotify has been expanding its ain AI-powered audio tools.

Yupp

Image Credits:Yupp

Yupp was an absorbing AI product: a escaped playground that allowed users to comparison responses from hundreds of AI models broadside by side. Users could besides ballot connected responses and gain cryptocurrency done the platform.

At its peak, the level fto users trial much than 800 models, including from companies specified arsenic OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic. But according to its founders, Yupp ne'er achieved beardown capable product-market acceptable to survive. The level shut down in March 2026. 

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