Reddit Sues Anthropic Over Unauthorized Data Use

Reddit has filed a lawsuit filed a lawsuit against Anthropic, the AI company behind the Claude chatbot, alleging that it has been using Reddit’s data for years without permission. This legal action follows Reddit’s increasingly stringent measures against data scrapers and companies that utilize its content to train artificial intelligence models.

Details of the Lawsuit

In its legal filing, Reddit claims that Anthropic began training its Claude chatbot on data sourced from Reddit as early as December 2021. The lawsuit includes a screenshot in which Claude appears to acknowledge its training on Reddit data. A spokesperson for Reddit stated to Engadget that the lawsuit represents the company’s “final option to force Anthropic to stop its unlawful practices” after multiple warnings.

Reddit’s Position on Data Usage

According to the spokesperson, “We believe in the Open Internet—that does not give Anthropic the right to scrape Reddit content unlawfully, exploit it for billions of dollars in profit, and disregard the rights and privacy of our users.” The spokesperson further emphasized that Anthropic has been caught accessing or attempting to access Reddit content via automated bots at least 100,000 times, which they argue constitutes a sustained effort to extract value from Reddit while ignoring legal and ethical boundaries.

The Value of Reddit’s Data

Reddit’s extensive archive of online discussions has become a particularly valuable asset as generative AI companies race to train new models. The platform has entered into lucrative licensing agreements with various companies, including Google and OpenAI, granting them access to its data. Reddit CEO Steve Huffman has previously criticized called out Anthropic and other AI firms for scraping content from Reddit. Last year, the company implemented measures to limit to combat automated scraping and indicated warned AI companies that violators would face financial repercussions.

Allegations Against Anthropic

In its lawsuit, Reddit asserts that “Anthropic refused to engage” in discussions regarding licensing its data. The filing states, “Unlike its competitors, Anthropic has refused to agree to respect Reddit users’ basic privacy rights, including removing deleted posts from its systems.” Reddit’s legal action highlights what it describes as the dual nature of Anthropic: a public persona that seeks to present itself as respectful of user rights and a private operation that disregards rules that hinder its profit motives.

Response from Anthropic

In response to the lawsuit, a spokesperson for Anthropic stated, “we disagree with Reddit’s claims and will defend ourselves vigorously.” This statement indicates that Anthropic intends to contest the allegations made against it in court.

Conclusion

The lawsuit between Reddit and Anthropic underscores the ongoing tensions in the tech industry regarding data privacy and the ethical use of information. As generative AI continues to evolve, the implications of this case may have far-reaching effects on how companies handle user data and the legal frameworks that govern such practices.

Update, June 4, 2025 12:03 PM ET: This post was updated to include a statement from Anthropic.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/reddit-is-suing-anthropic-for-allegedly-scraping-its-data-without-permission-185833267.html?src=rss