The long anticipated reboot of Digg, one of the early internet’s most influential communities, has entered a new phase as the platform opens its public beta on Wednesday. Now back under the ownership of its original founder Kevin Rose and Reddit co founder Alexis Ohanian, Digg is positioning itself as a refreshed community driven platform designed for a social media era increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence.
The new Digg closely resembles Reddit in structure, offering a website and mobile app where users can browse feeds from different communities, post content, comment and upvote posts using the platform’s signature “digg” function. Once a defining name of the Web 2.0 era, Digg peaked at a valuation of 175 million dollars in 2008 before being overtaken by Reddit and broken up in 2012. Since then, Reddit has grown into a publicly listed company and a key player in AI content licensing, supplying data to firms such as Google and OpenAI.
Rose and Ohanian believe the rise of AI has created a timely opportunity to rebuild Digg with a stronger focus on trust and healthier online interaction. They acquired the platform last March through a leveraged buyout involving True Ventures, Ohanian’s firm Seven Seven Six, Rose and Ohanian personally, and venture firm S32. While funding details were not disclosed, the new owners argue that modern tools, including AI, can help reduce toxicity while preventing platforms from being overwhelmed by bots posing as real users.
Rather than relying on traditional identity checks or simple verification badges, Digg plans to experiment with alternative trust systems. These include cryptographic methods such as zero knowledge proofs to confirm users are real without exposing personal data, as well as community specific verification, for example confirming ownership of a product before posting in a product focused forum. The company is also exploring device based signals, such as shared attendance at real world events, to reinforce authenticity.
Ahead of the public beta, Digg had been operating with about 67,000 invite only users across 21 broad communities. The open launch now allows anyone to join and create their own communities, with moderators setting their own rules and publishing moderation logs for transparency. With a small team and a long development runway, Digg’s leadership says the foundational work is complete and the focus will now shift to rapid iteration, community feedback and finding a sustainable model that balances growth, trust and fair treatment for moderators.