The AI graveyard: why so many AI products keep shutting down
Workflow automation startup Relay shut down entirely this week, joining a growing list of AI products and startups that failed to survive. According to S&P Global Market Intelligence, about 42% of corporate AI initiatives are ultimately abandoned.
Relay, a five-year-old AI-powered workflow automation tool built as an alternative to Zapier, shut down completely on Monday. The company struggled to justify its existence as a stand-alone product once larger platforms like OpenAI and Google began building similar automation features directly into their own tools.
Relay is just one entry in a growing "AI graveyard." According to S&P Global Market Intelligence, roughly 42% of corporate AI initiatives are eventually abandoned, due to reasons including insufficient funding, technical problems, competition, scaling difficulties, or weak user demand.
Even the biggest players stumble
OpenAI has had its own share of setbacks. In July, the company restructured ChatGPT into a broader "super app" with separate Chat, Codex, and Work modes, but rolled back the redesign after users complained it was confusing. OpenAI has also shut down several stand-alone apps in favor of folding their features into ChatGPT, including the web browser ChatGPT Atlas, which lasted less than a year, and the AI agent Operator. Its video platform Sora shut down in March 2026 due to high operating costs and poor user retention.
Other notable failures
Apple repeatedly delayed its upgraded Siri, a delay that contributed to a $250 million settlement over how the company marketed its AI features; the new Siri only began rolling out this past July and September. Microsoft's Recall feature, which periodically screenshots a user's PC activity, has continued to face privacy and security concerns even after a redesign. Notion Mail is set to shut down on September 22 after users preferred separate AI agents for managing email. Hardware devices Humane AI Pin and Rabbit R1 both struggled with performance issues, while the audio app Huxe and the AI model comparison platform Yupp both shut down in early 2026 due to insufficient product-market fit.
