• by Colin Kirkland , over 1 hour ago

Fandom, a 20-year-old online collection of entertainment and gaming websites, has named former Facebook and Twitter product leader and Signal board member Jay Sullivan as its new CEO as the company aims to evolve its platform via AI integration. 

According to Jimmy Wales, co-founder of both Wikipedia and Fandom, Sullivan’s appointment is designed to help take the entertainment-centric company move “into the future” as the new CEO is tasked with introducing new ways for fans to interact with their favorite IP.

Prior to joining Fandom, Sullivan spent much of his career developing consumer-facing products for Twitter and Facebook, where he led the development of Reality Labs’ AI Assistant, a product now integrated into Meta’s social-media platforms and VR wearables.

Sullivan also held the role of chief product officer at Groupon, as well as working as interim CEO at Mozilla, where he helped release different versions of Firefox. He also has served as a board member of encrypted messaging app Signal and ecommerce business WineDirect.

“I’ve always been drawn to building products that millions of people use every day - and that also serve as platforms others can build on,” Sullivan said in a statement. 

Wales specifically mentions AI in his announcement, sharing his hopes that artificial intelligence (AI) could be paired with Fandom’s Wiki technology, potentially amplifying the platform’s functionality. 

A release issued by Fandom highlighting ways in which new platforms, technologies and AI are impacting how fans consume and engage with content, states that the company wants to deliver new “tools and custom solutions for fans, creators, and partners” in order to play a larger role in the fan ecosystem. 

Fandom currently has over 350 million unique visitors across 250,000 “wikis” and touts media brand partners in entertainment and media, including GameSpot, Metacritic and TV Guide.