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

The AI graveyard is a growing collection of projects and startups that have failed to make it in the competitive AI landscape. Relay, an AI-powered workflow automation tool, shut down completely after struggling to compete with larger platforms integrating similar automation into their own tools. This is one example of the AI bets that never survive inside the companies that build them.

According to S&P Global Market Intelligence, about 42% of AI initiatives are ultimately abandoned by their corporate parents due to reasons like insufficient funding, technical challenges, competition, difficulty scaling, or weak user demand.

OpenAI, one of the most valuable private companies in the world, has also experienced its fair share of casualties and missteps. Its attempt to turn ChatGPT into a broader "super app" was criticized for confusing and cluttered interface, leading to a roll back of the change soon after. Other AI features, such as ChatGPT Atlas, Operator, DALL-E, Sora, and Apple Intelligence, have faced similar challenges, either being discontinued or struggling with high operating costs and user retention.

Apple's delayed release of Siri AI in 2024 and the subsequent $250 million settlement over claims regarding marketing the AI capabilities of the iPhone 16 also reflect the difficulties faced in the AI industry. Microsoft's Recall feature, an AI-powered "photographic memory" for Windows PCs, has been plagued by privacy and security concerns since its announcement. Despite a redesign, the controversy surrounding Recall has not subsided.

Notion Mail, an AI-focused email product, scheduled its shutdown in September 2025 due to users relying on separate AI agents to handle their email inboxes. The Humane AI Pin, a wearable device designed to provide AI features, faced significant performance issues and a battery fire risk warning, ultimately shutting down in February 2025.

The Rabbit R1, another hyped AI device, struggled with unreliable performance and limited integrations despite strong initial sales. It has since continued updating and shifting its focus to a portable device aimed at vibe-coding.

Huxe, an AI audio app built by former developers of Google's NotebookLM, shut down as larger platforms began offering similar experiences. These examples and many more paint a picture of the growing AI graveyard, where projects and startups struggle to find their place in the rapidly evolving AI market.