Reddit is suing Anthropic, alleging that the Amazon-backed AI startup used Reddit's data without a licensing agreement. Reddit stock gained in Wednesday trading.
Reddit said that bots deployed by Anthropic had obtained access to Reddit data more than 100,000 times in the past year, the company said in a lawsuit filed in the Superior Court of California in San Francisco County. Anthropic has benefited by using conversations from Reddit to train its AI algorithms, in violation of Reddit policies, the lawsuit alleges.
"Reddit brings this action to stop Anthropic — who tells the world that it does not intend to train its models with stolen data — from doing just that," the lawsuit said.
The massive trove of conversations held within Reddit's user-forum website has made its data a hot commodity among AI developers. The company, which went public in March 2024, has reached licensing deals with ChatGPT creator OpenAI and Google parent company Alphabet, among others.
Reddit said the unauthorized use of its data harms the company and its users.
"Other giants in the AI space understand and respect Reddit's rules," the lawsuit said. "That is why companies like OpenAI and Google have entered into formal partnerships with Reddit whereby they are permitted to use public Reddit content but only after agreeing to Reddit's licensing terms that protect Reddit and its users' interests and privacy. For its part, despite what its marketing material says, 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."
An Anthropic spokesperson said in an email that "we disagree with Reddit's claims and will defend ourselves vigorously."
Reddit Stock Gains After Lawsuit
On the stock market today, Reddit stock is up 6.7% at 118.23 in recent action. Shares ticked higher following news of the lawsuit, with Reddit approaching its 200-day moving average.
But Reddit stock is down 27% overall in 2025, retreating from a big rally that followed its March 2024 IPO. While the AI deals have provided secondary revenue, Reddit's main source of sales is advertising. And some investors are concerned that Google's growing "AI Answers" feature will lead to fewer users landing on Reddit. That has weighed on Reddit stock this year, along with concerns about the broader economy from tariffs earlier this spring.
Anthropic, meanwhile, is the creator of the Claude chatbot, a competitor to ChatGPT. The recently released Claude 4 AI model was well-received in the industry. Amazon has invested $8 billion in Anthropic over the past two years.
