Reddit takes Anthropic to court for "unlawfully" scraping user generated content
According to the complaint, Anthropic utilized Reddit's data without consent, thereby violating the site’s user agreement and disregarding established licensing protocols. Reddit asserts that these actions have caused "substantial harm" by commercially exploiting content never intended for such use.
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Reddit has initiated legal action against artificial intelligence startup Anthropic, filing a lawsuit in a San Francisco court on Wednesday. Reddit accuses Anthropic of unlawfully scraping user-generated content from its platform to train its large language models, alleging breach of contract and "unlawful and unfair business acts," as per reports.
According to the complaint, Anthropic utilized Reddit's data without consent, thereby violating the site’s user agreement and disregarding established licensing protocols. Reddit asserts that these actions have caused "substantial harm" by commercially exploiting content never intended for such use.
The lawsuit sharply criticizes Anthropic, a company recently valued at $61.5 billion and co-founded by former OpenAI employees. Reddit characterizes Anthropic as a "late-blooming" AI firm that, despite positioning itself as ethically conscious, has allegedly disregarded Reddit’s rules and community norms. The filing states, "Anthropic does not care about Reddit’s rules or users. It believes it is entitled to take whatever content it wants and use that content however it desires, with impunity."
Anthropic has responded to the allegations, stating it "disagrees with Reddit’s claims and will defend itself vigorously."
Reddit's legal stance is bolstered by its recent content licensing agreements with major AI players like OpenAI and Google, which the company emphasizes are compliant with its content usage terms. Notably, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, a former Reddit board member, holds a stake in Reddit valued at over $1 billion.
