Reddit suing AI startup for stealing content
Reddit is suing AI company Anthropic for “unlawful and unfair business acts”, alleging the startup is training its models by scrapping personal data from Reddit users without consent.
The lawsuit, filed on Wednesday, claims that Anthropic has benefitted from the unauthorised commercial use of Reddit content, in turn causing damage to the platform, and that “other giants in the AI space understand and respect Reddit’s rules.”
Reddit has licensing terms with OpenAI and Google, who “are permitted to use public Reddit content” to train its AI models in a way that protects its users’ privacy.
The lawsuit claims “Anthropic does not care about Reddit’s rules or users: it believes it is entitled to take whatever content it wants and use that content however it desires, with impunity.”
Reddit says its user agreement makes it clear the platform’s content cannot be used for commercial purposes without express permission.
“While Reddit has always been of the mind that the community should be open to all humans looking for connection and community, it has never allowed its platform and the countless communities who find a home on it to be appropriated by commercial actors seeking to create billion-dollar enterprises and offering nothing in return to Reddit and its users,” the complaint says.
An Anthropic spokesperson told CBS: “We disagree with Reddit’s claims and will defend ourselves vigorously.”
Anthropic launched in 2021, and was valued at A$94.6 billion in March. The company was started by ex-OpenAI executives, and has been backed by tech investment giants such as Amazon, Salesforce, and Lightspeed Ventures.
Reddit is seeking damages, and has asked for a jury trial.
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