"Kenjin" was a free, "intelligent" Software Agent

Launched by UK-based Autonomy Corporation in March 2000, Kenjin was designed to act as a "search-engine killer" by understanding the context of user documents rather than relying on keywords. 

• Launch and Purpose: Announced by Autonomy CEO Mike Lynch, Kenjin (Japanese for "wise man") was designed to run in the background, analyzing the content a user was working on and automatically recommending relevant links, documents, and information from both the web and the user's own PC. It was launched as a free, consumer-facing tool, but was aimed at driving awareness for Autonomy's core corporate, high-end "intelligent" software.

• Reception: While lauded as a bold, "intelligent" alternative to traditional search engines (like Yahoo!), early reviews in mid-2000 suggested it did not deliver a fatal blow to existing search engines, with some finding it less effective than conventional keyword searches.

• Market Context: Kenjin was released at the height of the dot-com boom to raise the profile of Autonomy before its planned Nasdaq flotation. It was considered a "marketing gambit" by some to showcase Autonomy's Bayesian network technology.

• Outcome: Kenjin did not replace search engines. It faded away as a consumer product, and the technology was absorbed into Autonomy's broader enterprise knowledge management solutions (IDOL - Intelligent Data Operating Layer). Autonomy itself was later acquired by Hewlett-Packard in 2011 for $11 billion, which subsequently resulted in major legal disputes and accusations of fraud. 

In summary, Kenjin was an early, ambitious attempt at AI-driven contextual search that failed to disrupt the market but served as a high-profile marketing tool for its parent company during the dot-com era.