Reddit And OpenAI Form A Win-Win AI Deal

Date: May 17, 2024

Reddit, the famous social media platform, and OpenAI, the leading AI developer, have formed a symbiotic partnership of exchanging tech and training data

The boom of AI is bringing many tech giants into a collaborative business environment. Many leading businesses have formed strategic partnerships to exchange technology and data in the last year. Along similar lines, OpenAI has struck a deal with the social media giant Reddit to use its public posts and relevant data for training AI models. In return, Reddit will receive technology access to OpenAI’s advanced platforms to improve in-app capabilities.

OpenAI’s signed agreement provides access to Reddit’s data APIs, which means it can integrate Reddit conversations and interactions with ChatGPT and other products. This agreement resembles Reddit’s earlier deal with Google, which was worth $60 million. The deal will also help Reddit bring AI-powered features to the platform using ChatGPT’s technology. The company may also develop new features and applications that use OpenAI’s large language models. 

OpenAI has also agreed to become an advertising partner on Reddit, marking a new angle of this strategic partnership. Redditors have been expressing negative feedback on Reddit’s last few moves, of which the removal of third-party APIs was condemned the most. Over 7,000 subreddits went dark after Reddit changed its third-party API pricing and introduced new restrictions.

One key note in the announcement states that OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altmann is now a shareholder of Reddit and that this partnership deal was led by OpenAI’s COO and approved by the independent board of directors. “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,” said the CEO of Reddit, Steve Huffman.

Before this partnership deal, there was unfriendly feedback between the two companies regarding ChatGPT’s logo usage by subreddits without consent. In a similar banter, Reddit threatened to block Google’s web crawlers from accessing their site. With this deal, such heated interactions may transform into collaborative discussions to improve end-user experience.