On 16 May, Reddit announced via blog post that it had partnered with tech giant OpenAI in a mutually beneficial deal for both parties. Reddit will provide OpenAI with access to its valuable wealth of data generated by its millions of users and will receive enhanced AI models and capabilities in return.
This isn’t the first time Reddit has made its data available to a big tech company (they partnered with Google in late February of this year), and it reflects and industry-wide trend of training and fine-tuning AI products with more comprehensive access to information.
But why did the partnership happen, and what do both parties stand to gain from it? Read on to find out more.
A Growing Technology
The worldwide market for AI shows no signs of slowing down. In 2023 alone, it was estimated to be worth over $200 billion, with that number only set to grow in the coming years. What was once considered a novelty way to generate pictures and create realistic chats for many users is becoming increasingly integral to the business and software landscape.
AI is still in its infancy though, and needs regularly updated sources and data to learn from. For that reason, many AI companies require access to user generated data. Data scraping has been a widely condemned aspect of machine learning tools, and its implications on copyright and data privacy are still a hotly contested and ongoing subject.
You only have to look at the recent controversy surrounding Scarlett Johansen and the alleged plagiarism of her voice with the “Sky” chat voiceover function.
Whatever the long-term implications, it’s clear that AI is now here to stay, and many companies are trying to determine their place in this new technological world.
Reddit and OpenAI
Reddit’s partnership with OpenAI may be news, but certainly didn’t come as a surprise in company or industry circles. In February 2024, Reddit made its API available to Google in a deal reportedly worth $60 million.
The industry has also seen tech companies partner with AI companies before. In March 2024, Adobe joined with Microsoft to connect its Experience Cloud workflows with Microsoft’s Copilot and 365 to enhance generative-AI capabilities and aiding marketing and user insights.
Reddit has pre-emptively addressed the concerns of its userbase by stating that both API and developer terms will remain unchanged. These terms state, among other things, that Reddit’s API can’t be used for commercial purposes without its express consent. It’s been known to guard this very carefully, especially with scraping attempts from Google.
Data has always been where the true value of social media platforms lie. The better one knows an audience, the better they can be targeted and the more effectively an AI can be trained to serve them.
Both Reddit and OpenAI are excited about the merger. Brad Lightcap stated that OpenAI is thrilled about Reddit providing “uniquely timely and relevant information” and the possibilities that its tools can bring to Redditors.
The Official Reasons
As stated in the original blog post, Reddit has cited three ways that it’s partnership with OpenAI will benefit both communities:
- OpenAI tools like the phenomenally popular ChatGPT will now have access to the API and constantly updating content of Reddit. It’s hoped that this access will provide ChatGPT users with more accurate and up-to-date information on a wealth of topics that Redditors love to discuss.
- The partnership will also allow for OpenAI’s powerful machine learning tools to be made available to Redditors and mods. It’ll provide an established AI platform for Reddit to build off of.
- Advertising opportunities for both parties. OpenAI will be able to advertise DALL-E, CHAT GPT and other tools on Reddit, while the aggregator site will be able to do the same in return.
Many Reasons to Partner
In addition to the officially stated reasons for the partnership, there are a whole host of other considerations and benefits that both companies stand to benefit from.
Financial
Earlier this year Reddit made its IPO, and became a publicly listed company on the stock exchange. Although the value of these stocks had been flagging slightly in recent months, the announcement of the partnership sent the value of the stocks up 15%. All in all, the company is looking strong, with a 66% increase in stock value since IPO.
Reddit co-founder and CEO Steve Huffman recognizes the potential value that its vast data reserves can provide. In the statement on the partnership, he’s quoted as saying: “Reddit has become one of the internet’s largest open archives of authentic, relevant, and always up-to-date human conversations about anything and everything.”
The partnership aligns with Reddit’s stated goals and endeavors of looking for ways to monetize its data and content. It remains to be seen how Redditors will react to this handling of their thoughts and opinions.
For OpenAI and Reddit, the advertising potential for both parties is vast. The extensive userbases of each provide fertile ground for targeted advertising opportunities, and on-site and in-tool promotion of products and services.
Competition
As stated earlier, many companies are on a mission to integrate AI tools and capabilities into their software and sites. Companies like Google and Microsoft have the benefit of their search engine metrics and user data from their software suite, while Meta has access to data from social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook to train its AI.
From this angle it’s easy to see that OpenAI wants to keep one step ahead of the competition by using the data of Reddit.
These tools will only grow in sophistication as the years pass, and it becomes necessary for companies without a social media platform or search engine to partner with companies that can provide them. Just because OpenAI is leading the charge in machine learning currently doesn’t mean that it’ll remain that way forever, especially if the competition keeps finding new ways to move ahead.
The Value of Redditors
One of Reddit’s keys to success has always been the diversity of its userbase. There are thousands upon thousands of Redditors, all with their own thoughts and opinions on a variety of topics, ranging from mainstream politics to obscure fandoms. There seems to be a dedicated Subreddit for just about anything.
Unlike other social media platforms and media outlets, Reddit is primarily verbal and its generally progressive userbase provides a constantly up-to-date analysis of even the most minute of topics. It’s a data goldmine for tech companies looking to train their machine learning AI tools on more human models of thought and speech, let alone the information.
Language interaction is therefore a primary focus of this partnership. The next generation of AI technology needs to be trained on language and mannerisms that more closely mimic those of everyday conversation.
While current AI capabilities may be sufficient, companies like OpenAI know that they need to refine their tools in both capability and accuracy to stay relevant as the nascent AI industry advances. The key to this will, paradoxically, be the human factor. If AI can’t present data in a relatable way to its userbase, then it won’t succeed.
Reddit’s Size
On any given day, Reddit has approximately 62.24 million active users online. Naturally, system administrators and Subreddit mods struggle to handle so many users and chats at any one time. Many Subreddits make use of bots in order to help police and curate content, while administrators make use of processes to automate certain routine tasks.
The ratio of users to management will always be skewed, but this number is only set to grow with an increase in the platform’s popularity. OpenAI’s partnership with Reddit provides the site with powerful tools that can benefit both Redditors and administrators.
While the specifics of these tools are still not entirely specified, it’s known that that they’ll be instrumental in helping with automating tasks and moderating groups. Thread information could be more easily explainable to users with the help of AI tools. Content can be summarized and replies generated with machine assistance.
In addition, OpenAI’s powerful language functions, which have already been a key feature of ChatGPT 4’s release can be used to more effectively translate Reddit posts into a variety of different languages. Refined and nuanced translations have been a major focus of machine learning tools, and the colloquial grounds of Reddit will prove to be both an opportunity and challenge for OpenAI, and a benefit for everyday Redditors.
An Interesting Future Awaits
It remains to be seen what the long-term impacts of the Reddit and OpenAI partnership will be, and whether the userbases of both will accept it. What is clear are the many benefits to doing so. AI is becoming more advanced with each passing year, but its machine learning needs more comprehensive data sets in order to do so.
Reddit’s unique userbase provides the perfect opportunity for OpenAI to train the next generation of AI tools, while lending its own existing tools and capabilities to the social media platform. The only true measure of success, though, will be time.
