Attie, an experimental AI-powered feed-building tool launched on Bluesky over the weekend, has rapidly become one of the most-blocked accounts on the platform. According to data from analytics website ClearSky, the account has been blocked 125,000 times since its public announcement on Saturday. That figure places Attie second only to U.S. Vice President JD Vance among Bluesky’s most-blocked profiles, surpassing the block counts for both the White House and Immigration and Customs Enforcement accounts, each of which has been blocked by more than 100,000 users.
Attie was developed by The Atmosphere, a team led by former Bluesky CEO Jay Graber. The tool is built on Bluesky’s AT Protocol, the decentralized infrastructure that underpins the network and allows developers to create interoperable social applications. At its core, Attie allows users to enter a plain-language description of the content or topics they want to see, after which the tool uses AI to search for relevant posts and assemble a personalized feed. The launch was presented as a way to enhance the overall Bluesky experience.
Despite that framing, the tool drew swift and vocal criticism from a significant portion of the user base. Author Dani Finn wrote that it would be “kinda neat” if Attie became the platform’s most-blocked account. Writer and artist Dan Lansdowne noted late Sunday that the tool had become nearly as unpopular as ICE and JD Vance within roughly 27 hours of its debut.
Several users argued that the introduction of AI features runs counter to the reasons many people migrated to Bluesky in the first place. Illustrator Marco Alfaro commented that the platform’s user base largely came to Bluesky to escape the AI features present on X, formerly Twitter, and suggested the move undermined Bluesky’s primary advantage over its rival. The reaction reflects a broader sentiment among users who view the platform’s relatively AI-free environment as a key part of its appeal.
Others directed criticism at what they see as a shift in the company’s priorities as it continues to grow. Tech YouTuber Sam Thibault wrote that companies often begin catering to perceived market demands rather than addressing existing problems on their core platform once they reach a certain size. This line of criticism suggests some users feel foundational issues on Bluesky remain unresolved while new features are being introduced.
The wave of blocks also highlights a distinctive aspect of Bluesky’s community culture. Users on the platform frequently rely on blocking and shared blocklists as a form of grassroots moderation, filtering out accounts they do not wish to encounter. Vance, who joined Bluesky last summer, still holds the record for the most-blocked account on the site with 180,684 blocks according to ClearSky. Unlike Bluesky, X does not make its analytics publicly available, so comparable blocking data for that platform is unavailable. Bluesky did not respond to a request for comment on the situation.
Originally reported by Decrypt.
