OpenAI and Reddit announced a new partnership on Thursday in a move that will bring the social media platform’s popular content to ChatGPT.
Reddit, meanwhile, will gain a new advertising partner in OpenAI. The value of the deal was not disclosed.
Meanwhile, Google announced a partnership in February that allows the technology giant to access Reddit data to train its AI models.
Both in the European Union and the US, there are questions about whether it is copyright infringement to train AI tools on such content, or whether it falls under fair use and “temporary copying” exceptions.
The issue is being tested in court in the US, in several legal cases separately representing people like Game of Thrones author George RR Martin, comedian Sarah Silverman, and the New York Times.
During the announcement, no financial terms were revealed in the blog post announcing the arrangement, and neither company mentioned training data, either.
That last detail is different from the deal with Google, where Reddit explicitly stated it would give Google “more efficient ways to train models.”
Leaders’ reaction to the Deal
Steve Huffman, also known by his Reddit username spez, is an American web developer and entrepreneur. He is the co-founder and CEO of Reddit, a social news and discussion website, that ranks in the top 20 websites in the world. He stated that “Reddit has become one of the internet’s largest open archives of authentic, relevant, and always up to date human conversations about anything and everything. Including it in ChatGPT upholds our belief in a connected internet, helps people find more of what they’re looking for, and helps new audiences find community on Reddit”.
On the other hand, the chief operating officer of OpenAI said, “We are thrilled to partner with Reddit to enhance ChatGPT with uniquely timely and relevant information, and to explore the possibilities to enrich the Reddit experience with AI-powered features”.
Reddit is excited about the IPO. “We are going public to advance our mission and become a stronger company,” wrote CEO Steve Huffman in a founder’s letter included in the prospectus. “We hope going public will provide meaningful benefits to our community as well. Our users have a deep sense of ownership over the communities they create on Reddit.”
How is Reddit’s deal with OpenAI different from Google’s?
While both deals involve granting access to Reddit’s vast trove of user-generated content, the specific applications and intended outcomes may differ. Google’s partnership seemed more focused on enhancing its model training capabilities, while OpenAI’s collaboration appears to be geared towards integrating Reddit content into its existing products and co-developing new features for the platform itself.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who holds a sizable stake in Reddit, already reaped a windfall earlier this year when the company went public in March. OpenAi co-founder and chief executive Sam Altman is no stranger to Reddit.
In 2014, he led the social media company’s $50 million Series B funding round, while investing an additional $60 million over two financing rounds at the height of the pandemic-era tech rally.
Altman also sat on the company’s board until, 2022 and has a major shareholding in the stock valued at around $750, the Thursday announcement included a disclosure of Altman’s shareholder status, confirming the partnership was led by OpenAI’s COO and approved by its independent board of directors.
Markets’ reaction to the deal
As the announcement of reddit and openai went viral, this resulted in the social media platform’s shares surging by 12 percent in after-hours trading.
Earlier this month, Reddit reported strong revenue growth and improving profitability in its first earnings report since going public, demonstrating the positive impact of its Google partnership and efforts to expand its advertising business.
