OpenAI unveiled a partnership with Reddit Inc. that will bring the social network’s content to chatbot ChatGPT and other products, and allow Reddit to add new artificial intelligence features to its online communities.
Reddit shares jumped 11% in late trading following the announcement.
The agreement “will enable OpenAI’s AI tools to better understand and showcase Reddit content, especially on recent topics,” the companies said Thursday in a joint statement. Reddit will also offer its users new AI-based tools built on OpenAI’s models, and OpenAI will become a Reddit advertising partner. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.
Reddit last week released new policies governing the use of its data, part of an effort to increase revenue through licensing agreements with artificial intelligence developers and other companies. The company, which sold shares in an initial public offering in March, also signed an accord in January with Alphabet Inc.’s Google worth $60 million to help train large language models, the technology underpinning generative AI. The San Francisco-based social network has signed licensing deals worth $203 million in total, with terms ranging from two to three years.
OpenAI, for its part, is increasingly forging partnerships with media companies to help train its AI systems and show more real-time content within its chatbot. The ChatGPT maker also penned deals with Dotdash Meredith earlier this month and the Financial Times in April.
Sam Altman, chief executive officer of OpenAI, has a long history with Reddit — he was one of the company’s largest shareholders at the time of its IPO earlier this year, and briefly served as Reddit’s interim CEO in 2014. The companies noted in the statement that their partnership was led by OpenAI Chief Operating Officer Brad Lightcap, and was approved by its independent directors.
The shares of Reddit, which had declined 5.5% to $56.38 in New York trading, soared as high as $64.75 after the partnership was announced. The stock has gained 66% since its IPO.
