TLDR:
- Reddit faces FTC inquiry over selling user data for AI training.
- Reddit stands to make $203 million from licensing user posts to Google for AI projects.
Reddit disclosed that it received a letter from the US Federal Trade Commission questioning their sale, licensing, or sharing of user-generated content for AI training. The FTC has concerns about privacy risks, fairness, and copyright issues related to this practice. Other companies, like Stack Overflow and the Associated Press, have also signed similar data licensing deals. These agreements have raised questions about who truly owns the content and whether it is fair to license it without compensating the creators. The FTC has previously shown concern about data passing in the AI market, requesting information from companies like Microsoft and OpenAI.