OpenAI has signed a deal for access to real-time content from Reddit’s data API, which means it can surface discussions from the site within ChatGPT and other new products. It’s an agreement similar to the one Reddit signed with Google earlier this year that was reportedly worth $60 million, The Verge reported.
The deal will also “enable Reddit to bring new AI-powered features to Redditors and mods” and use OpenAI’s large language models to build applications. OpenAI has also signed up to become an advertising partner on Reddit.
Redditors have been vocal about how Reddit’s executives manage the platform before, and it remains to be seen how they’ll react to this announcement. More than 7,000 subreddits went dark in June 2023 after users protested Reddit’s changes to its API pricing. Recently, following news of a partnership between OpenAI and the programming message board Stack Overflow, people were suspended after trying to delete their posts.
No financial terms were revealed in the blog post announcing the arrangement, and neither company mentioned training data, either.
OpenAI posted: OpenAI and Reddit Partnership
Keeping the internet open is crucial, and part of being open means Reddit content needs to be accessible to those fostering human learning and researching ways to build community, belonging, and empowerment online. Reddit is a uniquely large and vibrant community that has long been an important space for conversation on the internet. Additionally, using LLM’s ML, and AI allow Reddit to improve the user experience for everyone.
In line with this, Reddit and OpenAI today announced a partnership to benefit both the Reddit and OpenAI user communities in a number of ways:
- OpenAI will bring enhanced Reddit content to ChatGPT and new products, helping users discover and engage with Reddit communities. To do so, OpenAI will access Reddit’s Data API, which provides real-time, structured, and unique content from Reddit. This will enable OpenAI’s tools to better understand and showcase Reddit content, especially on recent topics.
- This partnership will also enable Reddit to bring new AI-powered features to redditors and mods. Reddit will be building on OpenAI’s platform of AI models to bring its powerful vision to life.
- Lastly, OpenAI will become a Reddit advertising partner.
Engadget reported OpenAI and Reddit announced a partnership on Thursday that will allow OpenAI to surface Reddit discussions to bring AI-powered features to its users.
The partnership will “enable OpenAI’s tools to better understand and showcase Reddit content, especially on recent topics” both companies said in a joint statement.
The deal is similar to the one that Reddit signed with Google in February, and which is reportedly worth $60 million. A Reddit spokesperson declined to disclose the terms of the OpenAI deal to Engadget and OpenAI did not respond for comment.
OpenAI has been increasingly striking partnerships with publishers to get data to continue training its AI models. In the last few weeks alone, the company signed deals with the Financial Times and Dotdash Meredith. Last year, it also partnered with German publisher Axel Springer to train its models on news from Politico and Business Insider in the US and Bild and Die Welt in Germany.
In my opinion, it seems like OpenAI wants to partner with every site that allows people to post things. That’s likely good for OpenAI, but I have concerns about the content created by users who may or may not want to have their posts used by OpenAI.