Digg cuts jobs after facing AI bot surge

Read a summary of this article on FAST.
Get bite-sized news via a new
cards interface. Give it a try.
Click here to return to FAST Tap here to return to FAST
FAST

March 13 : Digg is laying off staff citing "brutal reality" in the current digital environment and a surge in artificial intelligence-driven bot activity, more than a year after the once-popular content aggregator announced its comeback.

CEO Justin Mezzell said in a blog post on Friday that the company is downsizing its team to a small core group after failing to find product-market fit against established social media platforms.

The company grappled with an "unprecedented" influx of sophisticated AI agents and automated accounts that undermined the platform's voting and engagement systems.

"When you can't trust that the votes, the comments, and the engagement you're seeing are real, you've lost the foundation a community platform is built on," Mezzell said in a statement.

CNA Games

Guess Word
Crack the word, one row at a time

Buzzword
Create words using the given letters

Mini Sudoku
Tiny puzzle, mighty brain teaser

Mini Crossword
Small grid, big challenge

Word Search
Spot as many words as you can
Show More
Show Less

Digg founder Kevin Rose had teamed up with former rival Alexis Ohanian to buy the company as they had bet on an AI-powered revival of the platform that once drew around 40 million monthly visitors.

Mezzell said Rose will return to Digg full-time starting in April and will lead the effort to rebuild the platform. "We're not giving up. Digg isn't going away," he added.

The company did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment about the number of impacted employees.

Launched in 2004 by a then 27-year-old Rose, Digg was once called the "homepage of the internet" and was a rival to Reddit, a firm co-founded by Ohanian.

The platform was sold to New York-based tech incubator Betaworks in 2012. Microsoft's LinkedIn had scooped up its most valuable assets, including patents.

Newsletter

Week in Review

Subscribe to our Chief Editor’s Week in Review

Our chief editor shares analysis and picks of the week's biggest news every Saturday.

Sign up for our newsletters

Get our pick of top stories and thought-provoking articles in your inbox

Subscribe here

Get the CNA app

Stay updated with notifications for breaking news and our best stories

Download here

Get WhatsApp alerts

Join our channel for the top reads for the day on your preferred chat app

Join here