Reddit Takes Legal Action Against AI Startup Anthropic for Unlicensed Use of Data

Reddit has initiated a legal action against the AI startup Anthropic, alleging that it utilized the platform’s data to train its models without securing the appropriate licensing agreement.

The company contends that the commercial use of its information violates the terms of service of the social platform and constitutes a breach of the law.

Sam Altman, a significant stakeholder in Reddit, made an investment in the company back in 2014 and currently holds an 8.7% share. He ranks as the third-largest shareholder, following Advance and Tencent.

Reddit is the first among technology giants to legally challenge AI developers regarding their practices in training neural networks, although similar lawsuits have occurred in the past.

The New York Times previously filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft for configuring AI models based on its articles without payment or permission. Additionally, writers Sarah Silverman, Christopher Golden, and Richard Kadri also filed a lawsuit against Meta, claiming that the company used their books to train a language model, thus infringing on copyright.

In May 2024, eight daily newspapers owned by Alden Global Capital took legal action against OpenAI and Microsoft, accusing them of unlawfully utilizing «millions of articles» to train AI products without authorization.

«We will not stand by while profit-driven companies like Anthropic commercially exploit Reddit content for billion-dollar gains without giving back to the platform’s users and showing respect for their privacy,» said Ben Lee, Reddit’s chief counsel.

Interestingly, Reddit has established partnerships with other AI model providers, including OpenAI and Google, granting them permission to train their neural networks on the platform’s data. These agreements reportedly emphasize the protection of users’ interests and privacy.

«We disagree with Reddit’s claims and will vigorously defend ourselves,» stated Anthropic representative Daniel Gigliere.

In April 2023, it was revealed that Reddit intended to begin charging companies for access to its API, particularly those using it to gather data for training large language models.

Reddit is seeking compensation from Anthropic for the damages incurred and reimbursement of the profits made by the startup through the use of its platform’s content. The company is also pursuing a court injunction to prevent any further use of its information.

Earlier, Anthropic launched a blog for its chatbot Claude, filled with posts on technical topics related to various uses of the digital assistant.