BuzzFeed Spins Off “Branch Office,” Rolls Out AI-Powered Social Apps Amid Financial Strain

BuzzFeed used its SXSW stage to announce Branch Office, a new standalone company that will build consumer-facing apps using generative algorithms — and the debut offered a glimpse of both the company’s ambitions and its current fragility. The CEO, Jonah Peretti, framed the effort as a continuation of BuzzFeed’s long-running experiments with automated creative tools, but technical hiccups and an underwhelming audience response shadowed the unveiling. The rollout comes as the media firm warns investors it faces serious short-term funding pressure and reported a net loss of roughly $57 million last year.

Peretti and Branch Office lead Bill Shouldis showed off three projects intended to drive engagement: BF Island, Conjure and Quiz Party. The presentation began with slideshow and demo glitches and moved on to quiet, tentative reactions from the crowd — not the raucous enthusiasm the company was likely hoping for. Executives described the new venture as a way to combine editorial taste-making with fast iteration using machine learning, but the live demos struggled to convey why ordinary users would adopt yet another set of social apps.

BF Island is pitched as a group-messaging app with built-in image editing powered by algorithms and a curated catalogue of short-lived online jokes and trends selected by an editorial team. The editors’ goal, executives said, is to surface fleeting cultural moments so users can riff on them inside group chats. That approach is squarely aimed at people who live online and track ephemeral memes; it’s less clear how the product will travel beyond that niche.

Conjure, the most experimental of the three, borrows the “one photo a day” cadence popularized by earlier apps but asks users to capture scenes rather than selfies, with prompts that nudge creativity and an in-app character that feeds suggestions and reactions. The demo included a nature-focused prompt that led to a montage of atmospheric images, but audience reaction was muted and polite laughter punctuated the end of the clip. Branch Office staff said the app relies on behind-the-scenes models to shape prompts and responses and that the product will expand to include audio and short video formats over time.

Quiz Party is more straightforward: a social multiplayer version of BuzzFeed’s ubiquitous quizzes, letting friends compete and share outcomes in real time. It’s a familiar extension of BuzzFeed’s legacy content play, but executives acknowledged that novelty alone won’t sustain long-term use. During a question-and-answer session, a member of the audience noted how quickly apps with a single gimmick can fade; Branch Office representatives answered that the products will evolve and incorporate new media types and community features to keep users engaged.

Industry observers say the strategy has logic — automating parts of app creation can speed development — but they warn that rapid iteration doesn’t replace the harder work of building habitual behavior. “You can ship features fast, but turning them into daily habits is a different challenge,” said Mira Patel, a digital-media consultant. She added that BuzzFeed’s brand strength could help, but only if the company proves the apps solve real user needs rather than just showcasing technical possibility.

For now, the launch read as an attempt to pivot toward tools and experiences that might attract paying audiences or advertisers as BuzzFeed navigates its liquidity problems. Whether Branch Office’s blend of editorial curation and machine-driven content will catch on remains an open question — and one the company will need to answer quickly as it scrambles to stabilize its finances.