Artisan AI Returns to LinkedIn After Temporary Ban Over Content Policy Issues
Artisan AI is back on LinkedIn after resolving its ban for using the platform’s name improperly and data scraping concerns.
CEO Jaspar Carmichael-Jack told TechCrunch that LinkedIn had banned the company. After two weeks of discussions with LinkedIn, Artisan is now back online. Carmichael-Jack explained that every startup faces challenges early on.
LinkedIn banned Artisan not because its AI agents spammed users, as rumors suggested. Instead, the company misused LinkedIn’s name on its website and allegedly used data brokers that didn’t have permission, which broke LinkedIn’s rules.
Artisan AI is known for its “Stop hiring humans” advertisements around San Francisco. It created an AI agent named Ava, which helps find and contact potential customers. LinkedIn is an important place for companies to market, and both humans and AI are using it for sales.
A week ago, some LinkedIn users noticed Artisan was banned. Posts and tweets about it increased this week. Carmichael-Jack said LinkedIn’s enforcement team restricted Artisan’s accounts while they looked into the issue. He found it funny that, after the ban, more people started reaching out to them.
Carmichael-Jack received an email from LinkedIn just before Christmas about the ban. He described the LinkedIn team as helpful, even though they were anonymous. To solve the problem, Artisan removed all links to LinkedIn from its website since it had compared its features to LinkedIn’s.
He quickly learned about ensuring third-party vendors followed LinkedIn’s rules. Carmichael-Jack feels relieved to be back on LinkedIn, but he said losing access wouldn’t have been very damaging since much of Artisan’s data doesn’t come from the site.
They are about to launch a new version of Ava, which will be able to make outbound calls soon. He said if LinkedIn’s ban hadn’t been lifted, it wouldn’t have been the end of the world.
Interestingly, LinkedIn isn’t a direct competitor to Artisan. It launched its own AI last year, but it focuses on recruiting. However, LinkedIn’s strong reaction may hint at future plans to create a sales agent as well. LinkedIn didn’t respond to TechCrunch’s request for comment.
Artisan’s public banning serves as a reminder to all companies using data: Big Tech is paying attention.