Reddit is rolling out a brand new synthetic intelligence characteristic designed to assist individuals rapidly discover solutions primarily based on person posts, the corporate mentioned Monday.
A small portion of Reddit’s U.S. person base could have entry to the Reddit Solutions characteristic as a part of an preliminary take a look at earlier than the corporate rolls the characteristic out extra broadly.
Reddit Solutions is accessible through a brand new button on the corporate’s homepage. That button takes customers to a web page the place they’ll ask the AI questions, simply as they’ll with ChatGPT, Perplexity and different generative AI providers.
In contrast to different AI-powered chat and search instruments, Reddit’s AI-generated solutions are sourced from posts discovered on the platform, not from across the internet.
For example, if a person asks Reddit Solutions find out how to make modifications to a specific BMW mannequin, the AI device will reply with a bullet-point listing of ideas, summaries and quotes from Reddit posts associated to the query. Customers can faucet hyperlinks within the solutions and go on to the associated Reddit submit.
The corporate has been testing Reddit Solutions for six months, and the characteristic is a part of Reddit’s plans to enhance the best way individuals search on the platform, Reddit Vice President of Product Serkan Piantino informed CNBC.
Reddit Solutions is extra “about constructing a bridge to the content material than it’s about being a alternative for it,” mentioned Piantino. He mentioned the corporate needs individuals to make use of the characteristic to entry extra Reddit content material versus merely studying AI-generated summaries.
Folks will be capable of use Reddit Solutions to question any subject besides these deemed NSFW, or not protected for work, Piantino mentioned.
Reddit CEO Steve Huffman informed analysts in October that search represents a “centered funding” for the corporate in 2025 as a consequence of its utility and the way it “helps new customers discover their dwelling on Reddit.”
“It helps core customers navigate Reddit, reply their questions, and it is a monetization alternative,” Huffman mentioned on the corporate’s third-quarter earnings name. “It is one of many few merchandise that form of touches every little thing.”
Reddit Solutions is constructed atop the corporate’s present search structure and with AI fashions from OpenAI and Google Cloud, Piantino mentioned. The social media firm has data-licensing offers with each OpenAI and Google during which the businesses pay Reddit for entry to its knowledge that they’ll use to enhance their respective AI fashions.
Over the previous 12 months, Reddit has turn out to be probably the most visited websites by way of Google, after the corporate made inner modifications and after Google up to date its algorithms to prioritize “genuine” content material from on-line boards. Because of this, Reddit mentioned, it has seen an inflow of latest customers who aren’t logged into accounts on the platform.
Though Reddit’s total person base has grown together with its improved Google search outcomes, the variety of logged-out customers has exceeded that of logged-in customers because the fourth quarter of 2023, in line with Reddit financials. Reddit is not capable of monetize logged-out customers as a lot as their logged-in counterparts, which has led to the corporate releasing extra customized options meant to incentivize logged-out customers to create accounts.
“Reddit is the sixth most searched phrase on Google within the US this 12 months, and so, these are individuals actually typing the phrase Reddit into Google,” Huffman mentioned in October. “They know they will find yourself on there. They’re utilizing, on this case, Google to navigate Reddit.”
With Reddit Solutions, the corporate might be able to get extra customers to seek for Reddit content material on the platform, lowering the corporate’s reliance on Google for visitors. If new customers discover the characteristic compelling, they might be enticed to create accounts.
“It is fairly clear that AI has a spot in search, and that is how we’re interested by this as properly,” Piantino mentioned.
Reddit Solutions is simply out there in English for iOS and desktop customers for now, however the firm plans to roll out the characteristic to Android customers in addition to in different languages sooner or later, Piantino mentioned.
Watch: Reddit is a spot advertisers must be, says CEO Steve Huffman
