Internet pioneer Yahoo has unveiled 'Scout', an answer engine powered by artificial intelligence, as part of its latest attempt to revive the struggling brand. The AI tool, which uses technology licensed from Anthropic, aims to simplify online search and deliver more personalised results tailored to users' interests.
Chief executive Jim Lanzone, who has a reputation for turning around struggling internet companies, hopes Scout will help expand Yahoo's existing worldwide audience of 700 million users. “Yahoo has always been the white whale of turnarounds for me. I always thought I could do something with this thing,” Lanzone said.
Yahoo's decline began in the late 1990s, and after a series of missteps under seven different chief executives over 16 years, the company was acquired by private equity firm Apollo Global Management for $5 billion in September 2021. The acquisition followed a failed integration with AOL by Verizon Communications.
Under Lanzone's leadership, Yahoo has shed dysfunctional parts, including some advertising technology and publishers like TechCrunch, while overhauling its fantasy sports division and email service, which remains the second largest on the web behind Google's Gmail.
Scout will compete against Google, OpenAI's ChatGPT, Anthropic's Claude, and answer engines like Perplexity. Unlike other AI chatbots, Scout does not simulate human conversations, according to Lanzone. Analysts remain cautious about Yahoo's ability to compete with larger rivals.
