Reddit Sues Anthropic Over Data Scraping

06/05/2025 Technology

Reddit has initiated legal action against Anthropic, the creator of the Claude chatbot, alleging the unauthorized use of its data for years to train its AI model. This move follows Reddit's increasingly firm stance against companies scraping its platform for AI development without permission.

The Allegations

The lawsuit claims Anthropic began training Claude on Reddit data as early as December 2021. Evidence presented includes a screenshot suggesting Claude itself acknowledges this training data source. Reddit asserts that despite repeated warnings and at least 100,000 instances of detected unauthorized access attempts via automated bots, Anthropic continued its actions. The company contends this wasn't a misunderstanding, but a deliberate effort to profit from Reddit's data while disregarding legal and ethical considerations.

Reddit's Stance and Licensing Deals

Reddit's extensive archive of online discussions has become a highly valuable resource for AI development. The platform has already established profitable licensing agreements with companies like Google and OpenAI. The lawsuit highlights Anthropic's refusal to engage in similar licensing discussions, contrasting its behavior with other AI firms. Reddit emphasizes Anthropic's failure to respect user privacy, including the non-removal of deleted posts from its systems. The company paints a picture of a stark contrast between Anthropic's public image and its alleged private actions.

Anthropic's Response

In response, Anthropic stated that it disagrees with Reddit's claims and intends to mount a vigorous defense.