Reddit has supplied API entry since 2016, with varied platforms and suppliers utilizing this an entry level to collect knowledge from Reddit conversations. Extra not too long ago, that knowledge has additionally been used to energy the generative AI fashions behind Google’s Bard and OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which Reddit is now trying to tackle.

As per Reddit:

“After we first launched our Reddit Knowledge API over seven years in the past, the purpose was to allow builders to construct nice merchandise for customers and mods, powered by Reddit, and that hasn’t modified. Since then, we’ve seen 1000’s of purposes through the years, similar to instruments to make moderation simpler, and utilities that assist customers keep updated on their favourite matters. Our Knowledge API additionally supplies third events (like teachers, researchers, and social listening instruments) with entry to knowledge, and as a platform with one of many largest corpus of human-to-human conversations on-line, spanning the previous 18 years, we have now an obligation to our communities to be stewards of this content material.”

Basically, with generative AI instruments set to make huge bucks, Reddit needs its justifiable share, which is why it’s now trying to cost these higher-end builders for expanded entry to Reddit dialog knowledge.

That’s additionally the rationale why Twitter not too long ago up to date its pricing for its personal API entry, as OpenAI, and different platforms, have been utilizing tweet data to energy their fashions. Generative AI fashions have to develop an understanding of human language, and what folks imply once they talk, and social platform knowledge is a key ingredient on this respect.

And with Reddit and Twitter offering that perception, it is smart that they now additionally need their justifiable share.

For context, OpenAI is now valued at round $29 billion, a greater than 100% improve on its 2021 worth.

Twitter chief Elon Musk has his personal grievances on this entrance, with Musk being an preliminary investor in OpenAI when it was working as a research-based non-profit. Musk invested $100 million in OpenAI again in 2017, and took up a administration position on the firm, earlier than leaving in 2018 because of conflicts over Tesla employees and the longer term route of its improvement.

However now, Musk is indignant that OpenAI primarily took his ‘donation’, and has since switched to a for-profit enterprise – which is a part of the rationale why Twitter’s trying to limit OpenAI’s entry, whereas Musk has additionally hinted at potential authorized motion towards the corporate to recoup his funding.

For Reddit, it’s one other potential income pathway. And with the corporate additionally planning its IPO, it may very well be a precious supplementary earnings stream, relying on what number of take it up.

Along with this, Reddit’s additionally rolling out some new instruments for moderators to help in managing their subreddit communities.

“Within the coming months, you will note updates and enhancements to:

• Mod log – to offer context right into a group member’s historical past inside a subreddit, and show mod actions taken on a member, in addition to on their posts and feedback.
• Rule administration – to set expectations for his or her group members and visiting redditors. With updates, moderators will be capable to replace group guidelines through native apps and rearrange the order during which they seem.
• Further mod queues – to offer moderators a view of filtered variations of their mod queue content material, together with a view that exhibits all eliminated content material in addition to reported and edited content material. At the moment moderators can solely view one primary queue and might’t see elimination causes.”

Reddit must maintain its military of largely volunteer moderators joyful, particularly provided that they too may elevate questions concerning the firm bringing in extra money, and never passing that onto them.

As such, offering extra mod instruments looks as if a logical compromise, and these new instruments will present extra methods for mods to handle their in-app communities.

You may learn extra about Reddit’s API pricing replace right here.