Multiple outlets reported yesterday that AOL was potentially planning to kill off its AIM messaging platform. Today, the company has responded with a strongly-stated, albeit off-the-record, "Nuh-uh, not us."
According to an unnamed AOL spokesperson speaking to Computerworld, "We are not killing instant messenger. We'll continue to support it and evolve the product."
The source did confirm that Jason Shellen, head of the AIM product group, is indeed leaving the company—as reports indicated—and the company is trimming its AIM staff by about 40 members. However, that does not mean AIM is going the way of the Dodo.
In fact, the company just today restored interoperability between AIM and the Google Talk platform which had been severed to stem a flood of AOL-based spam from affecting Gmail Chat and Google Talk customers. [PC World]