Tailor My News vs Artifact & SmartNews
Artifact pioneered AI-powered news. SmartNews continues as a general aggregator. Here's how Tailor My News picks up where they left off — with a career focus.
TL;DR
Artifact was the most innovative AI news app of its era, but it shut down in early 2024. SmartNews is still around but serves general news. Tailor My News takes the best of what Artifact promised — AI-powered personalization — and applies it specifically to your career, with written and audio briefings.
| Feature | Tailor My News | Artifact | SmartNews |
|---|---|---|---|
| Status & Availability | |||
| Currently available | Shut down | ||
| Content & Curation | |||
| AI-written summaries | — | ||
| Career-focused curation | — | — | |
| AI recommendations | |||
| Industry customization | — | — | |
| Local news | — | — | |
| Delivery & Format | |||
| Audio briefings | — | — | |
| Podcast RSS feed | — | — | |
| Email delivery | — | — | |
| Clean, modern UI | |||
What Made Artifact Special
Artifact, built by Instagram co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, was genuinely innovative:
- AI-powered recommendations — the TikTok-style algorithm for news was remarkably good at surfacing interesting stories after just a few days of use
- AI summaries — Artifact could rewrite headlines and summarize articles using AI, a feature ahead of its time
- Clean, beautiful UI — the reading experience was polished and distraction-free, a joy to use compared to cluttered news apps
- Social features — commenting and sharing created a small but engaged community around quality journalism
Unfortunately, Artifact shut down in January 2024, citing insufficient market size for a standalone consumer news app.
Where SmartNews Stands Today
SmartNews remains a solid general news aggregator:
- Local news coverage — one of the few apps that does local news well, aggregating from regional outlets
- Clean reading experience — articles load in a clean, fast format within the app
- AI recommendations — learns your interests and surfaces relevant stories over time
- Free to use — ad-supported but functional
Where Both Fall Short for Career News
Neither Artifact (when it existed) nor SmartNews was built for career-minded professionals:
- Artifact is gone — the app shut down entirely. If you loved it, you need a new home for AI-powered news.
- SmartNews is general-purpose — it covers everything from politics to sports to celebrity news. There's no career or industry focus.
- No AI-written briefings — SmartNews aggregates articles but doesn't write concise briefings for you. You still have to read full articles.
- No audio option — neither app offered audio briefings or podcast feeds. Reading on screen was the only option.
- No industry customization — you couldn't tell either app "I'm a product manager in healthcare" and get news tailored to that career context.
Pricing Comparison
Artifact
Shut down January 2024
SmartNews
Ad-supported, general news
Tailor My News (via TMS)
AI briefings + resume tools + learning paths
One Platform Advantage
Tailor My News is included in the $9.99/mo TailorMeSwiftly subscription. That means you get AI career briefings alongside ATS resume optimization, cover letter generation, and personalized learning paths — all in one platform designed to accelerate your career.
The Bottom Line
Artifact proved that AI-powered news has a future, even if the app itself didn't survive. SmartNews is a decent free option for general news. But if you want what Artifact hinted at — AI that truly understands your interests — applied specifically to your career and delivered as both text and audio, Tailor My News is the evolution.