Exclusive-Reddit in AI content licensing deal with Google, sources say

Reuters

Published Feb 21, 2024 11:10PM ET

By Anna Tong, Echo Wang and Martin Coulter

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Social media platform Reddit has struck a deal with Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) to make its content available for training the search engine giant's artificial intelligence models, three people familiar with the matter said.

The contract with Alphabet-owned Google is worth about $60 million per year, according to one of the sources.

The deal underscores how Reddit, which is preparing for a high-profile stock market launch, is seeking to generate new revenue amid fierce competition for advertising dollars from the likes of TikTok and Meta Platform's Facebook (NASDAQ:META).

The sources were not authorized to speak to media and declined to be identified.

Reddit and Google declined to comment.

Bloomberg previously reported Reddit's content deal without naming the buyer.

Last year, Reddit said it would charge companies for access to its application programming interface (API) - the means by which it distributes its content. The agreement with Google is its first reported deal with a big AI company.

San Francisco-based Reddit, which has been looking at a stock float for more than three years, is preparing to make its initial public offering filing this week, which would detail its financials for the first time to potential IPO investors.

The filing could be available as early as Thursday, two of the sources said.

The company, which was valued at about $10 billion in a funding round in 2021, is seeking to sell about 10% of its shares in the offering, Reuters has previously reported. 

Reddit's stock market launch would mark the first IPO of a major social media company since Pinterest (NYSE:PINS) floated its shares in 2019.