Hey there, fellow tech enthusiasts! It’s your favorite funny guy Nuked here, bringing you some news from Reddit. The social media giant has recently announced some changes to its API that will affect how artificial intelligence companies can access its content pipeline. So, let’s dive into the details and see what this means for the future of AI.

First off, let’s talk about why this matters. AI chatbots, like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Bard, and Microsoft’s Bing AI, rely on data resources like Reddit to provide accurate and powerful responses to human prompts. These chatbots are powered by large language models (LLM) that are trained using sources like Reddit. However, some of this data can be scraped in an unstructured manner, which is why Reddit’s API has been so valuable for companies looking to access and package useful data.

Reddit’s API has been available since 2008 and has been fairly open for developers to use in almost any way they want. This includes building tools to moderate subreddits, creating Reddit browsing clients, and making the site easier to search. However, Reddit is changing its tune and plans to put some of its content behind a paywall.

The new terms apply to developers who use Reddit’s APIs in ways that require “broader usage rights” and won’t grant automatic licenses for anyone needing to modify user content. This means that commercial usage, like training LLMs, will require a separate agreement with Reddit and an undisclosed cost. The API will remain free for some use cases, like those who build moderation tools or use Reddit in educational and research environments.

It’s still unclear how these changes will directly affect third-party Reddit clients like Apollo, Rif, and Relay. However, Reddit has mentioned that it can enforce limits on how many API requests are made, which could be a concern for clients that need to use OAuth tokens for Reddit user authentication.

These changes come as Reddit prepares for an initial public offering later this year. The company’s monetization largely comes from advertising and digital goods, but it wants to build on the value of its user-generated content as more AI platforms emerge. Reddit CEO Steve Huffman has said that “the Reddit corpus of data is really valuable,” and the company doesn’t want to give away all of that value for free.

The new terms will go into effect after a 60-day notice period, and Reddit will also be releasing new moderator tools that work with its official iOS and Android apps. It’s clear that Reddit is taking steps to protect its valuable content and ensure that it’s compensated for its use in AI development. As always, we’ll be keeping an eye on this story and bringing you updates as they become available.

That’s all for now, folks! Stay tuned for more tech news from your favorite funny guy Nuked.