Reddit has initiated legal proceedings against artificial intelligence startup Anthropic, accusing the company of breaching contractual terms and engaging in unfair competition by using Reddit’s user data without proper authorisation.
The lawsuit, filed in San Francisco on Wednesday, centres on allegations that Anthropic trained its AI models on personal information and content contributed by Reddit users without obtaining their consent, causing commercial harm to the social media platform.
The complaint portrays Anthropic as a “late-blooming” AI firm that markets itself as a principled leader in ethical AI development. The filing further asserts, “For its part, despite what its marketing material says, 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.”
“We disagree with Reddit’s claims and will defend ourselves vigorously,” a spokesperson from Anthropic stated.
Since the surge in generative AI interest following the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in late 2022, Reddit’s vast repository of user-generated discussions has become a vital resource for training large language models. The platform contains millions of conversations on a wide range of subjects, making it an invaluable dataset for AI research and development.
Recognising this, Reddit has entered into licensing agreements with major AI companies such as OpenAI and Google, allowing them to use Reddit’s public content under strict terms designed to protect user privacy and uphold the platform’s rules. Reddit’s lawsuit highlights these agreements as examples of how “other giants in the AI space understand and respect Reddit’s rules.”
Notably, OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman, a former Reddit board member and shareholder with holdings valued at over $1 billion, illustrates the close connections between Reddit and some leading AI firms.
Anthropic, founded in 2021 by ex-OpenAI executives, has quickly gained prominence in the AI sector. The company was recently valued at $61.5 billion following a funding round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, with participation from Salesforce Ventures, Cisco Investments, and substantial backing from Amazon. Despite its growth and high-profile investors, Anthropic now faces scrutiny over its data practices amid increasing demands for transparency and accountability in AI development.
Reddit’s lawsuit emphasises that while the platform supports open access and community engagement, it has consistently opposed the commercial exploitation of its content without fair compensation or adherence to its policies.
“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 stated.
The social media company is seeking financial damages and an injunction compelling Anthropic to comply with its contractual and legal obligations, with a jury trial requested to resolve the dispute.