BuzzFeed is launching “Branch Office,” a spinoff
initiative made up of various AI-powered mobile apps designed to connect people and offset the buildup of AI slop content, while potentially saving the media company from imminent bankruptcy.
According to a presentation at SXSW led by BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti and the company’s AI Incubator founder Bill Shouldis, the media outlet has been experimenting with AI for years,
developing experiences aimed at facilitating human connection and creativity.
“We don't need to build our own foundational models or compete with Big Tech,” the BuzzFeed staff
wrote in a recent announcement. “We just ask one question: what's already here, and how
do we make it genuinely fun?”
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“We're accelerating into an era of infinite fake news, slop, personalization bubbles, and cuts at the organizations that actually care about
content,” said Peretti, adding that Branch Office, led by Shouldis, could provide a solution.
In their presentation, Peretti and Shouldis previewed upcoming Branch Office apps: Conjure,
a BeReal-like app that provides users with a daily subject to photograph and submit to an “X-Files universe,” and BF Island, a group chat platform that forgoes algorithms and followers for
AI-powered photo-editing capabilities.
A third app -- Quiz Party, a social quiz app based off of BuzzFeed's classic online quizzes -- was also previewed.
According to TechCrunch's coverage of the presentation, the SXSW audience did not respond particularly well to either app, as “a
lone cough could be heard among the silence, followed by uncomfortable laughter.”
Amid its Branch Office launch, BuzzFeed issued a statement last Thursday during an investor call
regarding “substantial doubt” that it will survive as a company for much longer.
A recent earnings report shows that BuzzFeed faced a net loss in 2025 of $57.3 million and does not
have enough resources to pay its cash obligations for the next year, including remaining debt and legacy commitments.
“We believe there is a gap between the value of our individual
assets and our market capitalization that suggests significant unrecognized upside,” Peretti said, adding that in 2026, the company will focus on “demonstrating the value of our brands,
Studio IP, and new AI apps to the market.”