Digg, the news aggregator which originally launched in the early 2000s, is set to be rebooted after being acquired by Kevin Rose, the co-founder of Digg, alongside Alexis Ohanian, the co-founder of Reddit.

Once industry competitors, the pair have teamed up to revive the social platform with a new vision for its future and with “humanity and connection at its core,” according to a release outlining the social media pioneers’ plans.

First launched in 2004, Digg users could either “digg” (or upvote) content, as well as “bury” (or downvote), helping to shape what trended online. In its prime, the site was regarded as “the homepage of the internet,” and attracted 40 million monthly unique visitors.

However, in 2012, co-founder Rose sold Digg to Betaworks, the product-focused, seed-stage venture capital fund, while its most valuable assets—which include patents—were acquired by LinkedIn.

Now, backed by True Ventures (Fitbit, Peloton, Ring, among other big name tech companies) where Rose is a partner, and Seven Seven Six (Stoke Space, Mr. Beast Industries, etc.), founded by Ohanian, the site is to take on a new lease of life—and enhanced by artificial intelligence.

Digg aims to set itself apart from other platforms in a heavily contested social media landscape by “focusing on AI innovations designed to enhance the user experience and build a human-centered alternative, one that prioritizes transparency, rewards human effort, and fosters enriching discussions.”

Speaking on the acquisition and rebooting of Digg, and the role AI will play, Rose said that “At various times over the years I had been approached to repurchase Digg; it never felt right. The technologies to solve our biggest pain points didn’t exist.”

“Just recently we’ve hit an inflection point where AI can become a helpful co-pilot to users and moderators, not replacing human conversation, but rather augmenting it, allowing users to dig deeper, while at the same time removing a lot of the repetitive burden for community moderators,” he continued.

“With Alexis on board, we bring a shared history, a deep respect for online communities, and a new perspective on what the internet needs today. Our goal isn’t just to honor Digg’s legacy as a trusted news source and discussion hub, but to evolve it.

“We believe users and moderators should have more control, transparency, and ownership over the communities they work so hard to build.”

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Ohanian added that “Online communities thrive when there’s a balance between technology and human judgment. We’re bringing Digg back to ensure that balance exists.”

“Kevin and I are here to build something better than what social platforms are offering today,” he continued.

“AI should handle the grunt work in the background while humans focus on what they do best: building real connections. No one dreams of spending their day hunting down spam or playing content police – they want to create, connect, and build thriving communities.

“I’m all in on this chapter.”

Invites for the new version of Digg will be rolling out in the coming weeks, and sign ups for early access can be made here.