Yes, LinkedIn did suspend the AI agent startup Artisan, but it has since returned

Artisan AI’s Temporary Disappearance from LinkedIn Sparks Online Buzz

In recent days, a flurry of activity on LinkedIn and Twitter erupted after Artisan AI, a prominent San Francisco-based AI startup, abruptly vanished from LinkedIn. Both the company’s page and its employees’ profiles became inaccessible, displaying messages stating that the content could not be shown.

Jaspar Carmichael-Jack, Artisan’s CEO, confirmed to TechCrunch that the startup had been suspended from LinkedIn. However, after two weeks of discussions and addressing LinkedIn’s concerns, the company’s presence on the platform is being restored.

“Every startup eventually faces challenges stemming from their early decisions,” Carmichael-Jack remarked.

Contrary to speculation circulating in viral posts, the ban was not due to Artisan’s AI agents spamming users. Instead, LinkedIn objected to the use of its name on Artisan’s website and raised concerns about the company’s use of data brokers who may have scraped LinkedIn’s data without authorization—a clear breach of LinkedIn’s terms of service, according to Carmichael-Jack.

Background on Artisan AI

Artisan AI, a Y Combinator graduate, gained significant attention in San Francisco with its bold “Stop hiring humans” billboard campaign. The company’s flagship product, Ava, is an AI agent designed to identify and reach out to potential sales leads. LinkedIn, a key platform for sales professionals, is an especially valuable space for such outreach—whether by humans or AI.

Although a few LinkedIn users noticed Artisan’s absence about a week ago, the story gained widespread traction as more posts and tweets began circulating.

Inside the Ban and Its Aftermath

Carmichael-Jack shared that LinkedIn’s enforcement team contacted Artisan and swiftly restricted all company accounts, effectively erasing their presence during the review process. Ironically, this sudden disappearance led to a noticeable increase in inbound interest, likely fueled by the surge in online discussion.

“As someone who appreciates unconventional marketing, I almost wish we’d orchestrated it,” he joked.

The CEO recounted his surprise at receiving LinkedIn’s notification on the evening of December 19, just before the holidays. Despite the anonymity and email-only communication, he found the LinkedIn team responsive and helpful throughout the process.

To resolve the issue, Artisan promptly removed all references to LinkedIn from its website, where it had previously compared certain features to those of the social network. Carmichael-Jack also took steps to ensure that all third-party data vendors were fully compliant with LinkedIn’s policies.

Looking Ahead: Artisan’s Next Moves

While Carmichael-Jack is pleased to have Artisan reinstated on LinkedIn, he downplayed the impact of the suspension, noting that the company relies minimally on data from the platform. He also revealed plans to launch a more autonomous version of their AI agent, which will be capable of reaching prospects through additional channels.

“We’re adaptable. Soon, we’ll introduce outbound calling as a new channel. Even if the LinkedIn ban had remained, it wouldn’t have been catastrophic,” he explained.

LinkedIn’s Position and Industry Implications

Although LinkedIn is not a direct rival to Artisan, it did introduce its own AI-powered Hiring Assistant last year, focusing on recruitment. The strong response to Artisan’s activities may hint that LinkedIn is considering expanding into sales automation in the future. LinkedIn did not provide a comment to TechCrunch regarding the situation.

Ultimately, Artisan’s highly visible suspension serves as a cautionary tale for AI companies seeking data sources: major tech platforms are closely monitoring these activities.

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