Social News Site Digg Returning From Moonbirds, Reddit Founders—With an AI Twist

Kevin Rose, the tech entrepreneur and co-creator of Ethereum NFT mission Moonbirds, is bringing again Digg, the once-prominent social information web site that he co-founded in 2004.

Rose and Alexis Ohanian—a co-owner of the enterprise and co-founder of one-time Digg competitor Reddit—acquired the model, and plan to place “humanity and connection” on the heart whereas using a robust dose of AI to assist strike a great stability of neighborhood and content material moderation.

Alongside Rose and Ohanian, Justin Mezzell—the previous COO of Rose’s Moonbirds firm Proof, and the artist behind that outstanding assortment—will be a part of the brand new Digg as CEO.

“At varied instances over time I had been approached to repurchase Digg; it by no means felt proper,” mentioned Rose in an announcement. “Only recently we have hit an inflection level the place AI can turn out to be a useful co-pilot to customers and moderators, not changing human dialog, however slightly augmenting it.”

The rebooted platform will take a mobile-focused method and goals to prioritize transparency whereas providing unspecified “rewards” for human effort.

“Kevin and I are right here to construct one thing higher than what social platforms are providing right now,” mentioned Ohanian. “AI ought to deal with the grunt work within the background whereas people give attention to what they do greatest: constructing actual connections.”

“I am all in on this chapter,” he added.

The Reddit co-founder is hoping to make one other social platform higher as properly, having simply joined Venture Liberty’s bid to amass TikTok for the U.S. market. Ohanian mentioned that he desires to carry the video-based social platform on-chain.

Representatives for Digg didn’t instantly reply to Decrypt’s request for touch upon whether or not or not Digg could have blockchain or crypto connections, given the point out of rewarding human participation.

Rose’s return to Digg comes after an unceremonious finish to his final high-profile enterprise with Proof and Moonbirds. After elevating greater than $60 million in funding—together with $10 million from Ohanian’s Seven Seven Six—the group confronted immense criticism after the large Moonbirds launch, with the worth of the NFTs falling alongside the remainder of the market.

Proof was finally offered to Yuga Labs in early 2024. Moonbirds NFTs now begin at a value of about $1,000 price of ETH on the secondary market, after initially promoting for about $7,600 every throughout the preliminary sale in April 2022.

Digg was acquired by Rose and Ohanian for an undisclosed sum, and is backed by their respective VC companies, True Ventures and Seven Seven Six. The location at present permits customers to join early entry by including their e-mail handle.

Edited by Andrew Hayward