Reddit sues AI company Anthropic for allegedly 'scraping' user comments to train chatbot Claude

Reddit has initiated legal action against Anthropic, alleging the AI firm illegally scraped user comments to train its chatbot Claude without obtaining consent. The lawsuit claims Anthropic deployed automated bots to access Reddit's content despite explicit requests not to. Ben Lee, Reddit's chief legal officer, emphasized the need for clear limitations on how AI companies can use user data. Unlike other lawsuits against AI companies, this one does not claim copyright infringement but highlights breaches of Reddit's terms of use. Anthropic, formed by former OpenAI executives, intends to defend itself vigorously against the allegations.

The case could set a precedent for the treatment of user-generated content in AI training. Reddit previously licensed its data to companies like Google and OpenAI, which provided user protections and rights over content. As the AI landscape evolves, the outcome of this lawsuit may influence future data usage agreements between social media platforms and AI companies.