AI’s growing graveyard: products that shut down or stumbled

The list spans cancelled products, troubled launches and companies that could not sustain their businesses. Some efforts disappeared; others were folded into products with larger audiences. OpenAI, for example, reversed a July 9 redesign that had grouped ChatGPT’s experiences into “Chat,” “Codex” and “Work” modes, with the familiar interface renamed “ChatGPT Classic.” After users complained that the redesign was confusing and cluttered, the company restored the previous interface. Separately, it discontinued the stand-alone browser ChatGPT Atlas on August 9, moving useful features into ChatGPT, and has brought more image-generation tools into the chatbot, reducing DALL-E’s role as a separate destination. Operator’s capabilities have also been folded into ChatGPT. OpenAI’s video platform Sora shut down in March 2026 after struggling with operating costs and user retention.

Apple’s revamped Siri, promised as part of Apple Intelligence in 2024, was repeatedly delayed over engineering issues and bugs. The delay contributed to a $250 million settlement over claims about how Apple marketed iPhone 16 AI capabilities. Siri appeared in the iOS 27 beta in July, with an AI-powered version rolling out to English-language users first this month; support for other languages is expected later. Microsoft’s Recall, announced in 2024 as a searchable record of activity on Windows PCs, was delayed nearly a year after privacy and security concerns. A researcher’s tool that extracted captured data has renewed questions about the feature’s protections.

Several startups and consumer products have also faltered. Character.ai, founded in 2021 by former Google researchers Noam Shazeer and Daniel De Freitas, raised $150 million at a $1 billion valuation in 2023. Google later paid a reported $2.7 billion to license its technology and bring the founders back. After lawsuits alleging its chatbots contributed to teen suicides and self-harm, and a Disney cease-and-desist letter over its characters, the company restricted open-ended chats for under-18s and agreed to settle several suits with Google in early 2026. It filed for bankruptcy in early October, citing legal, regulatory and operational headwinds. Disney has offered $20 million for a license to some intellectual property; the app remains available during the process, with a sale expected by late November or early December.

Relay, a five-year-old AI workflow tool, closed in August 2026 as larger platforms added similar automation. Ollie, a family-focused assistant launched in June 2026, is due to shut down on November 6. CEO Bill Lennon cited difficulty standing out and growing, as well as a lack of capital. Notion Mail, launched in April 2025, is scheduled to close on September 22 after users turned to separate AI agents for email. Huxe, an AI audio app from former NotebookLM developers, shut down in May 2026 amid competition from larger platforms. Yupp, which let users compare more than 800 models, closed in March 2026 after its founders said it had not found product-market fit. Figgs AI, a free character-creation and role-play service, shut down after its developers said operating costs were unsustainable.

Hardware has proved difficult, too. Humane raised $230 million for its AI Pin, but performance problems and a warning about a possible battery fire in its charging case preceded the shutdown of its business in February 2025. HP acquired most of its assets for $116 million. Rabbit’s R1, launched in 2024, sold 100,000 units shortly after release, but early reviews criticized its reliability and limited integrations. The company continues to update it and has announced a separate portable-device project, Project Cyberdeck.