TechCrunch has launched a running feature tracking notable AI products, startups and corporate initiatives that have shut down, pivoted or fallen short of expectations, framing it as a record of lessons for the industry rather than a simple flop list. The piece opens with Relay, a five-year-old AI workflow automation tool built as a Zapier alternative, which shut down entirely after larger platforms such as OpenAI and Google built similar automation directly into their own products, leaving it without a clear reason to exist independently.

The article cites S&P Global Market Intelligence data showing that around 42% of corporate AI initiatives are ultimately abandoned, for reasons including funding shortfalls, technical difficulties, competition and weak demand. It goes on to detail stumbles even among major players: OpenAI's brief and swiftly reversed "super app" redesign of ChatGPT in July, the discontinuation of its standalone Atlas browser and Operator agent (folded back into ChatGPT), the March 2026 shutdown of Sora, and Apple's long-delayed Siri AI overhaul, which contributed to a $250 million settlement over iPhone 16 marketing claims before finally rolling out in the iOS 27 beta.