--- title: "Crowd’s Reaction to BuzzFeed’s New AI App: Uncomfortable Laughter" description: "As TechCrunch reports, BuzzFeed's demos for two AI apps landed with a wet thud at this year's SXSW in Austin, Texas." date: "2026-03-17" modified: "2026-03-17" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/reaction-buzzfeed-new-ai-apps" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" --- # Crowd’s Reaction to BuzzFeed’s New AI App: Uncomfortable Laughter ![As TechCrunch reports, BuzzFeed's demos for two AI apps landed with a wet thud at this year's SXSW in Austin, Texas.]() *reaction-buzzfeed-new-ai-apps2 Futurism* *BuzzFeed* [made an unfortunate announcement]() during its company's earnings report last week, [admitting]() that "there is substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern" and that it was "actively exploring strategic options" to address its "liquidity challenges." The company remains neck-deep in debt, reporting a net loss of $57.3 million for 2025 — and, by most indications, it has yet to successfully reinvent itself to stop hemorrhaging money. The report came roughly three years after *BuzzFeed* CEO Jonah Peretti first [announced]() that the company was doubling down on AI, news that was met with a [mix of reactions](), ranging from skepticism to outright disgust. Then, during this year's SXSW in Austin, Texas, the company made good on Peretti's threat to bring a slew of "AI apps" to market, the culmination of years of chasing uninspired AI slop and [gutting]() its Pulitzer Prize-winning *BuzzFeed News* division. *BuzzFeed* execs showed off demos for two products under the umbrella of its new consumer-facing spin-off, called Branch Office: BF Island and Conjure, a group chat built around an AI image editor and a head-scratching [BeReal]() clone, respectively. As [*TechCrunch* reports](), the demos for the two apps landed with a wet thud — which isn't exactly surprising given the [impossible-to-ignore public AI backlash]() that continues to grow. After the company explained how Conjure challenges users to take smartphone photos based on riddle-like daily prompts, like nondescript pictures of the sky, audience members were clearly nonplussed. "We don’t get it, and clearly the audience didn’t either," *TechCrunch*'s Sarah Perez wrote. "After the demo, a lone cough could be heard among the silence, followed by uncomfortable laughter." A quick perusal of an [official description]() of the upcoming apps doesn't shed much more light on what one would get out of joining either Conjure or BF Island. "Every day, Conjure sends you a summons: a subject to go photograph," the company wrote. "You submit your photo as an offering. Something on the other end accepts it. Or it doesn't. No explanation." *BuzzFeed* is hoping to capitalize on "callbacks, the bits, the references that only land with the seven people in the thread" for its BF Island app, ostensibly an instant AI slop generator based on current memes. "BF Island lets you visualize all of it, drop in a photo, riff on it, spin it into something that makes your friends lose it," the company wrote. "No algorithm. No followers. Just your people." Confusingly, Peretti claims that facilitating the creation of even more AI slop is a meaningful response to AI "disrupting production." "When you don't have a vision for the content, you get a feed of slop," he said in an opaque statement that reads a bit like it was AI-generated itself. "The value has moved — it's about community, culture, and taste." Needless to say, the abysmal showing at SXSW — a seemingly desperate plea for relevancy and a strong sign that the company is grasping at straws to capitalize on AI hype — certainly didn't instill much confidence, especially following the company's brutal reality check last week. In short, with Peretti firmly holding onto the belief that more AI is the answer when it comes to social media, the company could soon be even harder pressed to claw itself back into the public consciousness. **More on BuzzFeed:** [*BuzzFeed Nearing Bankruptcy After Disastrous Turn Toward AI*]() ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()