Bluesky is making its biggest move into artificial intelligence yet. The decentralized social network has unveiled Attie, a standalone AI assistant that lets users design their own algorithms and build custom feeds — no coding required.
The app was presented for the first time at the Atmosphere conference over the weekend. Former Bluesky CEO Jay Graber, now serving as chief innovation officer, and CTO Paul Frazee introduced the tool to attendees. Conference-goers will serve as the first beta testers. The app is powered by Anthropic's Claude and built on Bluesky's underlying AT Protocol.
A New Kind of Social AI
Attie is not an update to Bluesky. It is an entirely separate product.
"It's a new product — it's not a part of the Bluesky app," said interim CEO Toni Schneider. Schneider, who is also a partner at Bluesky backer True Ventures, said Attie is the first standalone app built by Graber's new team.
The concept is simple. Users sign in with their Atmosphere login — the same credentials used for any app running on the AT Protocol, including Bluesky. Attie then understands what users have been posting about, what they like, and more, because the ecosystem is open and shares data across apps.
From there, users can type natural language commands. They can ask what posts they might want to see. They can curate personalized feeds. They can shape their own algorithm through conversation, just like chatting with any AI assistant.
"You control it, you shape it, without having to write code or know how to set up these feeds," Schneider said.
AI for People, Not Platforms
Graber framed Attie as a direct challenge to how major platforms use AI today. She argued that big tech companies deploy AI to serve themselves — increasing time spent in their apps, harvesting data, and controlling algorithms.
"We think AI should serve people, not platforms," Graber said. "An open protocol puts this power directly in users' hands."
Schneider echoed the point. "It is an AI product, but it's an AI product that's very people-focused. We think AI is a very powerful technology, but we want to make sure that we use it to build things that really benefit people."
From Feeds to Vibe-Coding
At launch, Attie focuses on feed creation. Feeds built in Attie will eventually be viewable within Bluesky or any other AT Protocol app. But the team has bigger ambitions.
Over time, the plan is to let users vibe-code their own social apps and build tools for other people. That would turn Attie into a gateway for non-developers to create software on top of the open protocol.
Schneider said Graber and her team began working on the app a few months ago. That was around the same time she decided to step back from the CEO role and return to building.
"She's an amazing leader and visionary, and we want her building more things and not worrying about operating the company," Schneider said.
Runway and Revenue
The launch comes on the heels of Bluesky's announcement that it secured $100 million in additional funding from a round that closed last year. Schneider said the money gives the company three-plus years of runway. That means stability for the broader ecosystem.
Monetization remains an open question. The team hasn't decided whether Attie will eventually require a fee. Other ideas being explored include subscriptions and hosting services for users who want to run their own communities on the protocol.
One thing Schneider ruled out: crypto integration. Despite backing from several crypto investors, there are no plans to introduce blockchain features or payment tools. He said those investors were drawn to Bluesky because of its decentralization — not because of any crypto ambitions.
The WordPress Comparison
Schneider, formerly CEO of Automattic — the company behind WordPress.com — sees a familiar pattern. He compared the Atmosphere to the WordPress ecosystem. At its center is a completely open system. Independent, decentralized pieces work together. WordPress grew into an ecosystem generating over $10 billion a year.
"This is what we're hoping for, for the Atmosphere to have that similar ability for lots of these apps and services to coexist and work together and build an ecosystem," he said.
Bluesky currently has 43.4 million users. With Attie, it's betting that giving those users AI-powered tools to shape their own experience could be what turns an open protocol into a thriving platform economy.
