Reddit Has Reportedly Signed Over Its Content To Train AI Models

The move means that Reddit posts, from the most popular subreddits to the comments of lurkers and small accounts, could build up already-existing LLMs or provide a framework for the next generative AI play. It’s a dicey decision from Reddit, as users are already at odds with the business decisions of the nearly 20-year-old platform.

Last year, following Reddit’s announcement that it would begin charging for access to its APIs, thousands of Reddit forums shut down in protest. Shortly after, the site itself crashed, and days later a group of Reddit hackers threatened to release previously stolen site data unless Reddit CEO Steve Huffamn reversed the API plan or paid them $4.5 million. Later, Reddit removed years of private chat logs and messages from users’ accounts, citing it was clearing data from before January 1, 2023, to prepare a new chat infrastructure.

Reddit announced other changes, as well, including a new “official” badge intended to distinguish real accounts from impersonators and new automatic moderation features. In September, Reddit removed the option to turn off ad personalization, rallying even more users against the platform’s evolution.