Reddit, OpenAI strike deal to use forums to feed ChatGPT

OpenAI has struck a deal with Reddit to bring the social network's content to the popular AI chatbot ChatGPT, the companies announced on Thursday.

Reddit is home to thousands of forums dedicated to specific topics, such as jokes, music, games as well as more serious topics. The site has spawned trends such as AMAs (Ask Me Anything) that are now commonplace elsewhere on the internet.

Under the new deal, ChatGPT and other OpenAI products will access Reddit content in real time.

"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," Reddit chief executive Steve Huffman said.

"Including it in ChatGPT upholds our belief in a connected internet, helps people find more of what they're looking for, and helps new audiences find community on Reddit."

Reddit embraces AI

Reddit was publicly listed on the New York Stock Exchange earlier this year. The platform is now looking for ways to diversify its revenue beyond advertising.

Investors view selling data to train AI models as one key source of revenue going forward.

In February, Reddit also inked an agreement with Google's parent company, Alphabet, to make its content available for AI models.

OpenAI noted in its announcement on Thursday that chief executive Sam Altman is a shareholder in Reddit.

zc/sms (Reuters, AFP)