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

AI products and startups have continued to shut down, pivot, or be absorbed into larger platforms as companies face competition, high operating costs, technical problems, legal pressure, and weak demand. S&P Global Market Intelligence estimates that about 42% of corporate AI initiatives are ultimately abandoned. Relay, a five-year-old AI workflow automation alternative to Zapier, closed in August after larger platforms incorporated similar automation tools. Character.ai filed for bankruptcy in early October, citing legal, regulatory, and operational headwinds, although its chatbot app remains available during the bankruptcy sale process. Large technology companies have also retrenched. OpenAI rolled back a July 9 ChatGPT redesign after users criticized its separate Chat, Codex, and Work modes, discontinued the Atlas browser on August 9, and folded Atlas and Operator capabilities into ChatGPT. Its Sora video-sharing platform shut down in March 2026 amid high operating costs and retention challenges. Apple delayed its upgraded Siri because of engineering issues and bugs before releasing it in the iOS 27 beta in July. Microsoft delayed Recall for nearly a year after privacy and security criticism. Humane closed its AI Pin business in February 2025 after performance problems and a charging-case fire warning; HP acquired most of its assets for $116 million.