Reddit Secures $60M Partnership with Google to Enhance AI Tools, According to Reports

Google has confirmed a $60 million agreement to leverage Reddit content for training its generative AI models, as reported by Reuters on Thursday. This announcement follows a previous Bloomberg report indicating that Reddit had secured a similar deal, but details about the other party involved were not disclosed at that time. By training AI models on user-generated content from platforms like Reddit, Google aims to enhance the naturalness and relevance of responses generated by chatbot tools.

The report highlights the ongoing efforts of AI companies to tap into vast amounts of online data while respecting copyright ownership. This development coincides with Reddit's plans for its initial public offering, where it intends to list shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol RDDT. Historically, AI models supporting applications like OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Google’s Gemini (formerly Bard) have been trained largely on web-scraped content. However, this practice has raised concerns among authors, artists, and publishers regarding the unauthorized use of their copyrighted material without recognition or compensation. As a result, some individuals have pursued legal action for copyright infringement, prompting AI firms to seek alternative content acquisition methods, such as partnerships with platforms like Reddit.

The reported agreement between Reddit and Google mirrors a recent arrangement made by Axel Springer with OpenAI, granting access to the German media company's content for AI model training. Yet, this strategy also faces scrutiny, as critics worry that financial gains from such agreements might not benefit the original content creators. A December Wired article addressed these concerns within the context of the Axel Springer deal, raising questions about whether individual journalists would receive any share of the profits. When inquired about potential revenue-sharing or additional compensation for reporters involved in the deal, Axel Springer did not provide a clear response, leaving uncertainty about payments for writers whose content is utilized by ChatGPT.

On Thursday, both Reddit and Google issued statements emphasizing their intentions to pursue closer collaboration across various sectors, though neither specifically referenced the reported deal or its financial details. Google praised Reddit for its “incredible breadth of authentic, human conversations and experiences,” while Reddit highlighted that their partnership with Google “will facilitate easier discovery and engagement with content and communities on Reddit that matter most to users.”