Reddit has signed a deal with Google to make its content available for training the US search giant’s AI models. The move comes as the social media platform confirmed that AI will become a key revenue stream for the company. 

The contract is said to be worth around $60m per year, according to Reuters, citing people familiar with the matter. 

Reddit revealed that its net loss had been decreased to $90.8m, as the company made its initial public offering (IPO) filing public on Thursday (22 February) in the lead-up to its launch on the US stock market in March. 

The community-focused forum site will be the first social media company to go public since Snapchat-creator Snap in 2017. 

In the filing, Reddit co-founder and CEO Steve Huffman wrote that he had “never been more excited about Reddit’s future than I am right now”.

Noting the AI agreement with Google, Huffman said: “Reddit’s vast and unmatched archive of real, timely, and relevant human conversation on literally any topic is an invaluable dataset for a variety of purposes, including search, AI training, and research.”

In its filing, Reddit confirmed it had entered into licensing agreements with a value of $203m in January.

An increasing number of social media companies are looking to sign licensing deals with AI companies to diversify their revenue streams. In 2023, OpenAI signed an agreement with Business Insider owner Axel Springer SE.

The deals are considered controversial due to the uncertainty around ownership. AI models are often trained on copyrighted material, catalysing several recent high-profile lawsuits.

In December, the New York Times sued OpenAI, alleging that millions of its articles had been used to train its AI models.