Reddit and Google in Talks for Next Content Agreement: Bloomberg Report

Reddit and Google are reportedly in early talks for a new content-sharing agreement that would deepen the integration of Reddit's content into Google's AI products. The partnership would be the next step in their existing content-sharing agreement.

Reddit Inc. and Alphabet Inc.'s Google are reportedly in early discussions for a new content-sharing agreement that would deepen the integration of Reddit's content into Google's AI products. This potential partnership comes more than 18 months after Reddit's first data-sharing deal with Google, which was reportedly worth $60 million Reddit seeks to strike next AI content pact with Google, OpenAI^[1].

The new proposal aims to create a structure that would encourage users to actively contribute to Reddit's forums, allowing Google traffic to help the platform grow while generating content for future AI training. Reddit is seeking to maximize value from future deals as its data increasingly plays a key role in search results and generative AI training Reddit in talks with Google for deeper AI content partnership - Bloomberg^[2].

The discussions mark an attempt by Reddit to shift away from purely transactional licensing agreements. Typically, AI companies pay a specific amount to showcase Reddit content within their AI products or to train their AI models. However, Reddit believes these terms don’t adequately reflect how valuable their data has been to these platforms Reddit seeks to strike next AI content pact with Google, OpenAI^[1].

Reddit's first data agreements with Google and OpenAI remain active. In January 2024, Reddit reached licensing agreements that would generate $203 million in contract value with terms ranging from two to three years Reddit seeks to strike next AI content pact with Google, OpenAI^[1].

Large language models, which underpin OpenAI’s ChatGPT as well as Google’s search feature AI Overviews and its Gemini assistant, are trained on massive datasets scraped from the internet. Reddit, with its unique format that allows for in-depth, user-generated discussions on an array of niche topics and human experiences, is a valuable source of information for training AI models, as well as informing AI chatbots’ responses to users’ real-time requests, sometimes including links to Reddit threads Reddit seeks to strike next AI content pact with Google, OpenAI^[1].

Such licensing agreements are becoming more common as AI companies seek legal ways to train their models. OpenAI has also struck a series of partnership agreements with major media publishers such as Axel Springer SE, Time and Conde Nast to use their content in ChatGPT Reddit seeks to strike next AI content pact with Google, OpenAI^[1].

Other content groups allege that various AI model companies have illegally used their data already. Publishers including The New York Times Co. and Penske Media have decided to sue OpenAI and Google, respectively, alleging that the companies have improperly obtained their work without permission, driving traffic away from their websites Reddit seeks to strike next AI content pact with Google, OpenAI^[1].

Reddit has also sued OpenAI rival Anthropic, alleging the AI startup illegally scraped its data to train Anthopic’s AI models. Anthropic recently agreed to pay at least $1.5 billion to a group of authors in one of the largest copyright settlements in US history Reddit seeks to strike next AI content pact with Google, OpenAI^[1].

Reddit remains among the most cited sources across AI platforms, according to analytics company Profound AI. However, Reddit executives have noticed that traffic coming from Google has limited value, as users seeking answers to a specific question often don’t convert into becoming active Redditors Reddit seeks to strike next AI content pact with Google, OpenAI^[1].

Now, Reddit is engaging with product teams at Google in hopes of finding ways to send more of its users deeper into its ecosystem of community forums, according to the executives. In return, Reddit is looking for ways to provide more high-quality data to its AI partners. Discussions between Reddit and Google have been productive, the people said.

“We’re midflight in our data licensing deals and still learning, but what we have seen is that Reddit data is highly cited and valued,” Reddit Chief Operating Officer Jen Wong said on July 31 during a call with investors. “We’ll continue to evaluate as we go” Reddit seeks to strike next AI content pact with Google, OpenAI^[1].