OpenAI and Reddit have signed a deal so that the former can access real-time content from the latter's data API. This provides ChatGPT with the opportunity to tap into discussions on the community website.
It's official: Reddit is becoming a new playground – and training ground – for OpenAI, the American company behind ChatGPT. “ We're partnering with Reddit to bring its content to ChatGPT and new products “, has made it official the company on May 16. A publication on the official website details more the scope of the agreement.
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In detail, the deal provides that:
- OpenAI accesses Reddit's data API, to take advantage of content “ unique, structured and in real time » from Reddit. This should allow OpenAI technologies to “ better understand and highlight Reddit content, especially on recent topics » ;
- Reddit Delivers New AI-Driven Features to Members and Moderators;
- Reddit relies on OpenAI tools to create applications and services;
- OpenAI becomes an advertising partner of Reddit.
What has not been specified, however, is the financial framework within which this partnership is being established. The prospect of making Reddit posts of the training data was not explicitly stated in the post. Using it to train future language models is a sensitive topic for Reddit members.
Agreements with Le Monde, Stack Overflow, the Financial Times…
Indeed, this deal is not the first of its kind. May 6, Stack Overflow and OpenAI also announced partnership. Stack Overflow is a space specialized in computer programming. However, a protest movement has since appeared, according to The Vergein a news story published two days later.
Internet users who are members of Stack Overflow decided to modify or delete their answers on the platform, as a sign of protest against this agreement. The site moderators have since intervened to restore the correct answers. Additionally, users were prohibited from deleting replies.
Other partnerships have been established by OpenAI, beyond these two community sites, this time towards the media. On March 13, a signature with the newspaper Le Monde took place, as well as the Spanish media conglomerate Prisa. On April 29, same thing with the prestigious Financial Times. All this, without making waves.
For its part, Reddit has already made a deal with Google in February 2024. It “ provides Google with an efficient and structured way to access the vast body of content existing on Reddit and allows it to use the Reddit Data API to improve its products and services. ” That includes the training of AI models, in particular.
“ Reddit has become one of the largest open archives of authentic, relevant, and always up-to-date human conversations about anything and everything said Steve Huffman, CEO of Reddit. According to him, this agreement signed with OpenAI reinforces his vision of a “connected Internet”, which “ helps people find more. »
In fact, economic considerations also played a role. In 2023, it was found that Reddit was tired of serving as a training ground for generative artificial intelligence, without getting paid. Hence the common ground found with Google (which is a rival of ChatGPT, with Gemini), then OpenAI (ChatGPT).