As artificial intelligence systems race to ingest vast amounts of human-generated data, Reddit’s growing value highlights both the appeal of real-time, conversational content in training models and the limits of relying on user-generated forums that can be noisy, inconsistent and difficult to verify at scale.
Reddit CEO Steve Huffman now says the platform’s vast archive of human conversations positions it as a key input for artificial intelligence, even as questions persist over how central such data is to the technology’s future.
“There’s no artificial intelligence without actual intelligence,” he said on CNBC’s “Mad Money.” “The knowledge has to come from somewhere, and Reddit is one of the primary sources for that sort of information that AI’s crave, but also that people crave.”
The comments came after Reddit reported strong quarterly results, with revenue rising 69% year-on-year to $663 million, driven largely by advertising, while daily active users grew 17% to 126.8 million. Shares rose about 9% in extended trading following the results.
Huffman argued that Reddit’s business model allows it to benefit from the AI boom without the heavy capital spending required by larger technology firms.
“We’re a lightweight company,” he said. “We’re not building data centers … we’re building a consumer product for people.”
The company reported capital expenditures of about $1 million for the quarter and free cash flow of $311 million, more than double the level a year earlier.
At the same time, Reddit’s repository of user-generated content is attracting interest from major AI developers, with partnerships involving companies such as Google and OpenAI underscoring demand for large-scale, real-world data.
“People want what Reddit has,” Huffman said. “What we’ve seen over the last couple of years with the rise of AI is that the whole market now is learning that Reddit is the fuel for it.”
Supporters of Huffman’s view say platforms like Reddit offer something increasingly valuable in AI development: large volumes of continuously updated, human-generated conversations that reflect real-world language, sentiment and problem-solving.
Such data can help train models to be more conversational and context-aware, particularly compared with static datasets.
However, analysts caution that while Reddit may be a useful input, it is unlikely to be sufficient on its own.
AI systems typically rely on a broad mix of data sources, including books, academic papers, code repositories and licensed datasets, to improve accuracy and reduce bias. User-generated content can also present challenges around reliability, moderation and consistency.
There are also growing concerns over data ownership and compensation, as platforms seek to monetize content that was originally created by users rather than the companies themselves.
Still, Huffman maintained that Reddit’s role in the AI ecosystem is becoming more widely recognized.
“People want what Reddit has,” he said.
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