Reddit and Google have recently announced a collaboration aimed at advancing the capabilities of Google’s artificial intelligence (AI) models. This partnership involves Reddit providing its vast content for training the firm’s AI algorithms. Through Reddit’s data application programming interface (API), Google gains access to real-time content from Reddit’s platform, facilitating the integration of Reddit’s content across Google’s products.
Google and Reddit reach agreement
In exchange, Reddit will benefit from the firm’s Vertex AI, a service designed to enhance search results for companies. However, Reddit maintains restrictions on commercial access to its API, requiring approval for developers or companies seeking to utilize its data for commercial purposes.
This partnership follows reports that Reddit secured a $60 million training agreement with an undisclosed AI company and announced plans to charge companies for API use. It marks Reddit’s first major agreement with a prominent AI company.
In 2023, Google updated its privacy policy to permit the use of publicly available data for AI training, a move that came after OpenAI faced a class-action lawsuit in California over allegations of scraping private user information from the internet.
Meanwhile, generative AI startup Anthropic made updates to its commercial terms of service, pledging not to use client data for large language model (LLM) training starting in January 2024.
Implications and prospects
Despite this progress, Reddit and Google have had disagreements in the past. Reddit once threatened to block Google from crawling its site due to concerns about companies using its data for AI training without permission.
Reddit’s journey toward an initial public offering (IPO) has been in the spotlight recently. With a valuation exceeding $10 billion in 2021, Reddit filed for its IPO on Feb. 22, aiming to boost its valuation further. The IPO, expected to take place in March, will be the first major social media IPO since Pinterest’s in 2019.
The move to secure partnerships with content owners reflects a broader trend among AI model developers to diversify their training data sources beyond web scraping. Content owners have become increasingly vocal about the unauthorized use of their material in AI training, prompting developers to seek formal agreements to access content legally.
Overall, the collaboration between Reddit and Google signifies a significant step in the AI landscape, where access to high-quality data is crucial for developing advanced AI models. As both companies continue to innovate in their respective fields, their partnership is expected to yield valuable insights and advancements in AI technology.
