Reddit Signs AI Content Licensing Deal With Google; Said to Be Worth $60 Million a Year

Reddit is preparing for a high-profile stock market launch.

By Reuters | Updated: 23 February 2024 19:51 IST

Reddit Signs AI Content Licensing Deal With Google; Said to Be Worth $60 Million a Year

Photo Credit: Reuters

Highlights

Last year, Reddit said it would charge companies for access to its API
Reddit was valued at about $10 billion in a funding round in 2021
The company is seeking to sell about 10 percent of its shares in the IPO

Social media platform Reddit has struck a deal with Google to make its content available for training the search engine giant's artificial intelligence models, three people familiar with the matter said.

The contract with Alphabet-owned Google is worth about $60 million (roughly Rs. 497 crore) per year, according to one of the sources.

The deal underscores how Reddit, which is preparing for a high-profile stock market launch, is seeking to generate new revenue amid fierce competition for advertising dollars from the likes of TikTok and Meta Platform's Facebook.

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The sources were not authorized to speak to media and declined to be identified.

Reddit and Google declined to comment.

Bloomberg previously reported Reddit's content deal without naming the buyer.

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Last year, Reddit said it would charge companies for access to its application programming interface (API) - the means by which it distributes its content. The agreement with Google is its first reported deal with a big AI company.

San Francisco-based Reddit, which has been looking at a stock float for more than three years, is preparing to make its initial public offering filing this week, which would detail its financials for the first time to potential IPO investors.

The filing could be available as early as Thursday, two of the sources said.

The company, which was valued at about $10 billion (roughly Rs. 82,897 crore) in a funding round in 2021, is seeking to sell about 10 percent of its shares in the offering, Reuters has previously reported.

Reddit's stock market launch would mark the first IPO of a major social media company since Pinterest floated its shares in 2019.

Makers of AI models have been busy clinching deals with content owners in recent months, aiming to diversify their training data beyond large scrapes of the internet. That practice is rife with potential copyright issues as many content creators have alleged that their content was used without permission.

Founded in 2005 by web developer Steve Huffman and entrepreneur Alexis Ohanian, Reddit is known for its manifold niche discussion groups, some of which boast tens of millions of members.

Google I/O 2023 saw the search giant repeatedly tell us that it cares about AI, alongside the launch of its first foldable phone and Pixel-branded tablet. This year, the company is going to supercharge its apps, services, and Android operating system with AI technology. We discuss this and more on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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