A new chapter for Attie
Bluesky’s AI assistant, Attie, is getting a major upgrade. Originally launched in March as a tool to help users build custom social feeds without writing a single line of code, Attie is now expanding into what the company calls an open-ended research tool. The new feature, named Quests, lets anyone ask Attie questions about what’s happening across the broader Bluesky ecosystem — which the company nicknames the Atmosphere.
That ecosystem doesn’t stop at Bluesky itself. Quests can pull information from any app built on the AT Protocol, the decentralized foundation that underpins the network. So if you’re curious about trending topics, influential voices in a specific city, or even a niche field like open-source gardening tools, Attie can now help you dig into it.
What Quests actually does
Think of Quests as a research assistant for the open social web. Instead of just filtering your feed or recommending accounts, you can ask Attie open-ended questions. For example: “What are the most talked-about topics among climate scientists on Bluesky right now?” or “Who are the top accounts discussing AI policy in Europe?”
The company describes the feature as a way to “fight back against the proliferation of misinformation and noise.” In a blog post, Bluesky’s chief innovation officer Jay Graber — who stepped down as CEO in March and was replaced by Toni Schneider, former founding CEO of Automattic — wrote that Attie is meant to help people “make sense of the internet” and “find the truth yourself.”
Graber also emphasized that the goal is to lower the barrier to entry for using the AT Protocol. “We want Attie to reduce the barrier to entry and expertise required to learn how to use the AT Protocol,” she wrote, “and to put the tools for customizing your experience in the hands of anyone who wants them.”
Why Bluesky needs this now
Bluesky’s user growth has clearly slowed. The social network saw its user base double to 40 million last October — a remarkable surge within just a year — but it now reports around 45.6 million registered accounts. That’s growth of only about 5.6 million over the past eight months.
So the company is looking for fresh ways to expand its audience and, eventually, generate revenue. Attie is free for now, but Bluesky has floated the idea of charging for the service down the road. In March, the company announced it had raised $100 million in funding, giving it some runway to experiment. That cash is being used to explore ideas like Attie, a premium subscription tier, and tools for power users.
Balancing community sentiment with revenue needs
There’s a tension here. Many Bluesky users are openly skeptical of AI — for economic, political, and environmental reasons. The company has to navigate that community sentiment while also figuring out how to keep the lights on. Attie is one of the more visible attempts to strike that balance: a useful AI tool that doesn’t feel like an intrusion, and that might one day become a paid service.
Graber acknowledged that Attie is being redesigned with accessibility features and a new logo. More changes are coming in the months ahead.
What’s next for Attie (and who gets access)
For now, the new Attie experience is in beta. Users will be invited in from a waitlist over the coming weeks. The company hasn’t shared a specific timeline for a wider rollout, but the direction is clear: Attie is no longer just a feed-builder. It’s becoming a research tool for the open social web.
The bigger picture is that Bluesky is betting that tools like Attie will prove more useful than the algorithmic noise machines that dominate much of social media today. As Graber put it, “Our bet is that tools that help people make sense of the world will prove to be more useful than those that fill it with confusion.”
Whether users will pay for that clarity is an open question. But for now, the company is focused on getting the tool right — and getting it into more hands.
If you’re interested in how Bluesky’s approach compares to other platforms, you might also want to check out our guide on WhatsApp HD photo sending or read about the latest WhatsApp privacy settings.
