OpenAI has inked a deal allowing real-time access to Reddit’s content via an API, meaning that company-wide discussions can be displayed in ChatGPT and other new products. A similar agreement was previously signed between Reddit and Google, which was estimated to be worth $60 million.
The agreement will also help Reddit’s administration to “provide users and moderators with new AI-based features,” and utilise OpenAI’s large language models to develop applications. Additionally, OpenAI will become an advertising partner for Reddit. How users of the world’s largest forum, who are known for voicing their opinions about the platform’s management, will react to this deal with OpenAI remains to be seen. Last year, over 7,000 sections of the site were disconnected in protest against the introduction of a paid API. User conflicts were also noted on the programmer’s platform, Stack Overflow, following a deal with OpenAI.
Neither Reddit nor OpenAI have disclosed the financial terms of the deal or discussed the data set to be used for AI training. When Reddit made its deal with Google, the platform’s management openly spoke about “more efficient ways of training models”. The case with OpenAI varies slightly. Firstly, the company’s CEO, Sam Altman, is a shareholder of Reddit. Secondly, we know that “the partner project was led by OpenAI’s principal operating officer with approval from an independent board of directors.”
“Reddit has become one of the largest online archives of authentic and current conversations about everything. Incorporating it into ChatGPT supports our belief in the internet – it will help people find what they are looking for and help new audiences find a community on Reddit,” declared Reddit’s CEO, Steve Huffman. The forum’s administration has not always welcomed the collection of its data for AI training. They once threatened to block Google robots from accessing the site while OpenAI told moderators of a forum dedicated to ChatGPT that they had violated the company’s copyrights by using the chatbot’s logo as an emblem.
