Bluesky's Attie AI assistant adds an open research tool

Bluesky this week added Quests, a new feature to Attie, the AI assistant that already lets users build custom social feeds without programming. Quests lets users ask Attie open-ended questions about what’s spreading across the broader Bluesky social network — nicknamed the Atmosphere — a scope that includes not just Bluesky itself but any app built on the underlying AT Protocol. Users can, for instance, ask Attie to surface trending topics or identify the most influential accounts in a particular field or location.

Attie launched in March as a separate Bluesky product that lets people design their own algorithm and create custom feeds, with the company also floating the idea that users might one day be able to vibe-code their own apps on top of it. The assistant remains free for now, though Bluesky has considered charging for it. The new, Quests-equipped version of Attie is in beta, with users to be invited in from a waitlist over the coming weeks; chief innovation officer Jay Graber said the assistant is also being redesigned with new accessibility features and a new logo, with more changes planned in the months ahead.

The expansion comes as Bluesky’s user growth has slowed over the past eight months. The network’s user base doubled to 40 million last October within just a year, but it now reports around 45.6 million registered accounts. That slowdown has pushed the company to develop tools and services that could grow its user base and eventually help it generate revenue — a balancing act, given that many Bluesky users are wary of AI for economic, political, and environmental reasons.

Graber, who stepped down as CEO in March and was succeeded by former Automattic founding CEO Toni Schneider, framed Attie as a defense against online confusion. “Attie’s AI is a tool that helps you make sense of the internet, helping you fight back against the proliferation of misinformation and noise by giving you the tools to find the truth yourself,” she wrote. Bluesky has some room to experiment: the company said in March that it had raised $100 million in a funding round that closed in 2025, giving it runway to test ideas like Attie alongside other potential revenue streams such as a premium subscription.

Why it matters

Attie is Bluesky’s bet that AI-native discovery tools — not raw user numbers — can help a much smaller decentralized network compete with entrenched incumbents, but the slow, waitlist-gated rollout signals the company is wary of alienating a user base broadly skeptical of AI.