Reddit is in early talks with Google to form its next content-sharing agreement, proposing a new kind two-way-street partnership that would encourage Google users to become active contributors to its online forums, helping the company grow and generate content for future training, according to Bloomberg sources.
Last year Reddit struck a $60M deal with Google, allowing it to crawl its site and use Reddit discussions to train its AI models and enhance search results. The deal was a one-way street, meaning Google paid Reddit and got to crawl and use its content — but did not directly encourage visitors to join the forum. However Reddit executives believe that these terms don’t adequately reflect how valuable their data is, and now want Google to encourage its visitors to participate in the conversation.
Reddit also plans to discuss with Google and OpenAI a future deal structure that could allow for dynamic pricing, where Reddit can be paid more as it becomes a more vital source of AI answers. (And will Reddit contributors be earning a chunk of that reward? We won't hold our breath!)
Is Reddit overplaying their hand? Or is their user data really that valuable? Hit reply and let me know your thoughts.
In other AI licensing news… The Wall Street Journal reports that Meta held discussions with major publishers like Axel Springer, Fox, and News Corp about licensing their content to fuel its AI tools, marking a pivot from its recent pullback from paid news. The talks, which are still in early phases and may not lead to deals, follow Meta’s agreement to license content from Reuters in 2024 and mirror similar deals from rivals like OpenAI, which recently signed licensing agreements with News Corp, Axel Springer, and People Inc.