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Tech giant Microsoft is facing new challenges as Reddit CEO Steve Huffman announces an end to free data scraping on the platform. In recent lucrative agreements with Google and OpenAI, Huffman is demanding that Microsoft and other tech companies also pay to access Reddit’s data, reported The Verge.
As per the publication, Huffman highlighted the importance of these deals for maintaining control over Reddit’s data and ensuring its responsible use. Without such agreements, Reddit cannot oversee how its data is presented or utilized, risking potential misuse.
“Without these agreements, we don’t have any say or knowledge of how our data is displayed and what it’s used for, which has put us in a position now of blocking folks who haven’t been willing to come to terms with how we’d like our data to be used or not used,” Huffman said in an interview with The Verge.
According to the publication, Microsoft, Anthropic, and Perplexity are among the companies that have resisted negotiating, leading to what Huffman describes as “a real pain” in blocking their access. In July, Reddit updated its robots.txt file to exclude unauthorized web crawlers, reinforcing its new stance.
Consequently, Google search results now prominently display Reddit content, in line with their paid arrangement. On the other hand, Microsoft’s Bing search engine faces allegations of utilizing Reddit’s data without authorization to train its AI and create summaries without permission.
Huffman has rebuked Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman’s comment that public internet data is “freeware,” arguing that such an attitude overlooks the need to compensate data sources fairly. Reddit’s message is clear: companies profiting from its data must provide appropriate compensation.
This situation underscores the growing friction between data providers and tech giants over data usage and monetization. By enforcing stricter control, Reddit aims to maintain influence over how its information is utilized and displayed. This move is part of a larger trend where online platforms strive to better monetize their data, recognizing its increasing value in the AI and machine learning landscape.
The resolution of the standoff between Reddit and Microsoft is still unknown, yet it has the potential to greatly impact the future of data sharing and monetization. As Huffman stands firm, the tech industry observes with keen interest, anticipating the subsequent developments in this critical dispute.
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Published: 01 Aug 2024, 03:42 PM IST
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