All articles tagged with #data licensing
Google reportedly invited Play Store app developers to join a confidential pilot to sell access to their production and archived code to help train Google's AI coding tools, with non-exclusive licenses and 100% IP retention; the program signals Google's push to secure high-quality training data as rivals expand in AI-assisted coding.
Reddit delivered a Q1 beat with revenue of $663M (up 69% YoY) and EPS of $1.01, guiding Q2 revenue to $715–$725M and adjusted earnings of $285–$295M; DAU climbed 17% to 126.8M, ARPU was $5.23 overall and $9.63 in the U.S., with 'Other revenue' up 15% to $39M as data-licensing partnerships with Google and OpenAI support growth. The company highlighted a capital-light model with minimal capex and posted a seven-quarter streak of 60%+ revenue growth; shares rose about 9% in after-hours trading.
The Wikimedia Foundation has begun paid data-access deals with AI firms including Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, Mistral AI, and Perplexity to monetize Wikipedia’s data and help cover rising infrastructure costs from automated scraping, signaling a shift from donation-based funding to enterprise partnerships; the foundation also envisions AI tools to assist editors and a conversational search experience that cites verified text.
Reddit's stock continued its post-IPO rally, climbing 8.8% despite receiving a hold rating from analysts. The company's shares closed at $65.11, marking a 92% increase since its debut on the stock market. New Street Research issued a neutral rating with a $54 price target, anticipating volatility leading up to the first earnings report. Reddit's market cap has reached about $12.3 billion, with ongoing interest in potential data licensing deals and an expanded partnership with Google. However, an FTC inquiry into Reddit's data licensing business could pose a challenge. Despite this, Reddit users and employees are capitalizing on the stock's surge, with some expressing regret for not buying more shares.
Reddit discloses that it is being investigated by the FTC over its data licensing practices for AI training ahead of its IPO. The investigation follows a $60 million per year deal with Google, raising concerns among privacy advocates and regulators. Reddit's foray into AI and cryptocurrency comes as it seeks to tap into the growing market for these technologies, but the regulatory challenges it faces could impact its business, results of operations, financial condition, and prospects.
Reddit's sale of user data for AI training, including a recent deal with Google, has drawn an inquiry from the FTC, which has previously shown concern about data passing in the AI market. Reddit has been licensing data for years, but its move into AI-related purposes has sparked controversy, including the shutdown of free apps and add-ons for reading or enhancing Reddit. The FTC's inquiry raises concerns about unfair competition and user protests, potentially impacting Reddit's upcoming IPO.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is conducting a non-public inquiry into Reddit's data-licensing practices related to training AI models ahead of its IPO, with the company disclosing a letter from the FTC in its updated prospectus. Reddit, which relies heavily on advertising, is also exploring data licensing as a revenue stream. The company's revenue rose 20% last year, with 98% from advertising and 2% from data licensing. Reddit has entered into data-licensing deals and expects to recognize at least $66.4 million from these agreements in 2024. The FTC's interest in Reddit's data-licensing business comes amid the company's plans to go public and expand its partnerships, including an expanded partnership with Google.
Reddit has disclosed in a recent SEC filing that it will earn $203 million from licensing its vast corpus of posts and comments to AI companies over the next three years, with Google's deal estimated to be worth $60 million a year. The company acknowledges the legal uncertainty surrounding AI companies' use of its data for training purposes and the potential for continued unauthorized scraping, but also sees these licensing agreements as potentially influencing legal battles over data scraping. Additionally, Reddit views large language models as both a revenue opportunity and a competitive threat, as it prepares for its upcoming IPO.
Microsoft has warned its customers that using its Bing search index to feed their AI chat tools violates the terms of their contract and has threatened to cut off access to its internet-search data if they do not stop using it as the basis for their own artificial intelligence chat products. The company may also terminate licenses providing access to its search index. Microsoft had said in February it was revamping its Bing search engine and Edge Web browser with artificial intelligence.