OpenAI signs agreement to train AI on Reddit data
Kyiv • UNN
OpenAI has signed an agreement with Reddit to use the site's data to train AI models, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman owns a significant stake in Reddit.
OpenAI has signed an agreement with Reddit to use data from the social news site to train AI models, UNN reports citing TechCrunch.
Details
OpenAI said that the partnership with Reddit will give it access to "structured and unique real-time content" - such as messages and replies - from Reddit, allowing the company's tools and models to "better understand and display" this content. Reddit's content will be incorporated into ChatGPT, OpenAI's popular AI-powered dialog tool, and the companies will work together to provide unspecified new "AI-powered features" to both Reddit users and moderators.
OpenAI will also become an advertising partner of Reddit.
"Reddit will rely on OpenAI's AI modeling platform to realize its powerful vision," OpenAI wrote in a statement. - "By leveraging LLM, ML, and AI, Reddit will be able to improve the user experience for everyone.
OpenAI has several similar license agreements with content providers, from standard media libraries to news publishers. But an unusual perspective on this issue is that Sam Altman, OpenAI's CEO, owns 8.7% of Reddit, making him the third largest shareholder, and he was once a member of the company's board of directors.
As the publication points out, "in an effort to thwart the scrutiny," OpenAI said in a press release that while Altman remains a Reddit shareholder, the partnership was "led by OpenAI's COO (Brad Lightcap)" and "approved by OpenAI's independent board of directors." The publication notes that Altman is a member of OpenAI's board; however, he has recused himself from the decision, an OpenAI spokesperson told TechCrunch.
Reddit has made data licensing agreements an increasingly central part of its growth strategy as it moves forward as a public company, the publication writes.
In its IPO prospectus, Reddit disclosed that it has contractual agreements to license its data to customers, including Google, totaling more than $200 million. And in its first earnings report as a public company, Reddit reported a 450 percent increase in non-advertising revenue year-over-year, largely due to these agreements.
Reddit shares rose 11% in extended trading after the announcement of the OpenAI deal.
With more than 1 billion posts and more than 16 billion comments (and growing every day thanks to hundreds of millions of active users), Reddit is a goldmine for generative AI companies whose models learn from examples of content, such as text and images, to create new, similar content.
However, the company may face resistance from users concerned about how it monetizes their data, the publication notes.
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