AI Graveyard Grows as Relay, Sora, Huxe and Yupp Shut Down
Relay joins the AI graveyard as OpenAI, Apple, Microsoft, Humane and others shut, absorb or rework products amid cost, privacy and demand failures in 2026.
Summary
Five-year-old Relay shut down Monday after OpenAI, Google and other platforms embedded the email and task automation its AI agents offered as a Zapier alternative. S&P Global Market Intelligence says companies abandon about 42% of AI initiatives because of funding, technical, competitive, scaling or demand problems.
OpenAI reversed its criticized July 9 ChatGPT redesign, which merged Chat, Codex and Work and renamed the familiar interface ChatGPT Classic. It discontinued browser ChatGPT Atlas on August 9 after under a year and folded its best features into ChatGPT, as with web agent Operator; integrated image generation has also diminished standalone DALL-E. Costly, low-retention video platform Sora closed in March 2026.
Apple’s context-aware, cross-app Siri, announced with Apple Intelligence in 2024, suffered engineering and bug delays that contributed to a $250 million iPhone 16 marketing settlement; it reached the iOS 27 beta in July and is rolling out this month in English, with other languages later. Microsoft delayed Recall, unveiled at Build 2024, nearly a year after privacy fears over its searchable screenshots; a researcher’s extraction tool renewed concern despite redesign. Notion Mail, launched in April 2025, closes September 22 because users preferred separate email agents. Humane, after raising $230 million, closed the poorly performing AI Pin in February 2025 following a charging-case fire warning; HP bought most assets for $116 million. Rabbit sold 100,000 R1s after its January 2024 CES unveiling, despite unfinished performance and few integrations; updates now pitch computer control, while Project Cyberdeck targets portable vibe-coding. Competition from larger platforms including Spotify helped close NotebookLM veterans’ audio app Huxe in May 2026. Yupp, offering crypto rewards and comparisons across more than 800 OpenAI, Google and Anthropic models, closed in March 2026 for weak product-market fit. Figgs AI attracted over 1 million roleplay users in 2023 to 2024 but closed because free operation was unaffordable.
Positives
- Apple’s upgraded Siri reached the iOS 27 beta in July and is rolling out to English-language users this month.
- OpenAI preserved useful Atlas and Operator capabilities by integrating them into ChatGPT rather than discarding them.
- Rabbit continues updating the 100,000-unit R1 and is developing Project Cyberdeck for portable vibe-coding.
- HP acquired most of Humane’s assets for $116 million after the AI Pin business closed.
- Figgs AI demonstrated substantial interest in customizable AI characters by attracting more than 1 million users.
Risks & concerns
- About 42% of corporate AI initiatives are abandoned because of funding, technical, competitive, scaling or demand problems.
- Relay shut down after larger platforms erased the five-year-old Zapier alternative’s standalone advantage.
- Microsoft Recall still faces privacy concerns after a researcher extracted data from its searchable screenshot archive.
- Humane closed AI Pin after poor performance and a charging-case battery fire warning, despite raising $230 million.
- OpenAI closed Sora over high operating costs and weak retention, while its July 9 ChatGPT redesign required a rapid reversal.
- Notion Mail, Huxe, Yupp and Figgs AI are closing or closed after struggling with user behavior, competition, product-market fit or costs.