EXCLUSIVE: Reddit Is Powering The World's AI Models — And Its Google, OpenAI Deals May Only Be The Start

Reddit Inc (NYSE: RDDT ) has grown its revenue thanks to user growth and also some content licensing deals with AI companies like OpenAI and Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG ) (NASDAQ: GOOGL ).

Reddit Chief Financial Officer Drew Vollero shares with why Reddit data is so in demand for large language models.

Reddit Content Deals, The ‘Oil for the Modern Internet’ Reddit has content licensing deals in place with Google and OpenAI.

These deals are called "mutually beneficial" by Vollero. "We believe Reddit data has added meaningful value to the performance and relevance of their models," Vollero told. "What makes Reddit’s data particularly valuable is its scale, freshness and commercial intent." The Reddit chief financial officer tells that the company is home to one of the "largest collections of human conversation on the internet," a collection that continues to grow and could become more valuable. "We were pioneers when we signed these deals in 2024.

Neither side knew exactly what to expect, and the marketplace has continued to evolve rapidly." As for renewals and new AI deals, Vollero said Reddit is focused on two key objectives. "First, we want to accelerate the user flywheel that drives our business, and second, ensure the deal reflects the unique value of Reddit’s data." Reddit CEO Steve Huffman has referred to Reddit conversations as being "like oil for the modern internet." Vollero tells he loves this analogy. "Oil was valuable because it powered an entirely new economic system and physically linked a nation.

Human conversation is doing the same thing for the modern internet." Vollero said Reddit has over 25 billion posts and comments from real people and the company is already the most cited source for LLMs (large language models). "This is the largest and most continuously refreshed collection of human conversation on the internet." The Reddit CFO said the company’s data was important to train early LLMs and remains genuine human content for AI models in the future. "As more of the internet becomes closed off or filled with AI content, authentic and accessible human knowledge becomes increasingly valuable." Vollero said Reddit "creates value on both sides of the AI ecosystems" by improving AI models and serving as a trusted source of human perspective.

Read Also: EXCLUSIVE: Reddit’s 500 Million Weekly Users Are Still ‘Early Innings,’ CFO Says — Here Are The Top 3 Priorities Reddit’s Advertising Growth The growth of Reddit usage and AI model verification has helped the company beat analyst estimates for revenue and earnings per share.

Vollero tells that the company’s advertising business is benefiting from its AI deals. "Brand managers know their companies need to be on Reddit because the platform is a centerpiece of cultural conversation," Vollero said.

The Reddit CFO highlighted the company’s seven consecutive quarters of 60% or more revenue growth during the interview.

Vollero said brands know that if they want to be part of conversations about key topics and engaged users, they need to have a presence on Reddit. "That human layer, which is real experiences, opinions, and debate, is what makes the platform so valuable." While advertising revenue was up 74% year-over-year in the first quarter, Vollero told that more efforts are being made to diversify and grow overall revenue.

This includes making it easier for advertisers to scale highly relevant, top-performing campaigns.

Vollero said the efforts are paying off with small businesses, mid-market customers and large advertisers. "Reddit is proving it can be successful in both brand and performance-based advertising.

Not many platforms can do that." Read Also: Reddit Turns Human Chatter Into Wall Street Gold With Blowout Q1 Photo: Ink Drop / Shutterstock