×
Reddit looks to AI search as its next big opportunity | TechCrunch

Reddit looks to AI search as its next big opportunity | TechCrunch

Reddit suggested on Thursday that its AI-powered search engine could be the next big opportunity for its business — not just in terms of product, but also as a revenue driver impacting its bottom line. During the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call on Thursday, it offered an update on its plans to merge traditional and AI search together and hinted that although search is not yet monetized, “it’s an enormous market and opportunity.”

In particular, the company believes that generative AI search will be “better for most queries.”

“There’s a type of query we’re, I think, particularly good at — I would argue, the best on the internet — which is questions that have no answers, where the answer actually is multiple perspectives from lots of people,” said Reddit CEO Steve Huffman.

Traditional search, meanwhile, is more like navigation — it’s a way to find the right link to a topic or subreddit. But LLMs can be good at this, too, if not better, he said. “So that’s the direction we’re going.”

The exec also noted that weekly active users for search over the past year grew 30% from 60 million users to 80 million users. Meanwhile, the weekly active users for the AI-powered Reddit Answers grew from 1 million in the first quarter of 2025 to 15 million by the fourth quarter.

“We’re seeing a lot of growth there, and I think there’s a lot of potential too,” Huffman added.

Reddit said it’s working to modernize the AI answers interface by making its responses more media-rich, and pilots of this are already underway.

The company is also thinking about how it can position itself when it’s not just a social site, but a place people come for answers. Reddit told investors on the call that it’s doing away with the distinction between logged-in and logged-out users starting in Q3 2026, as it will aim to personalize the site — using AI and machine learning — and make it relevant to whoever shows up.

The company announced in 2025 it was planning to combine its AI search feature, Reddit Answers, with its traditional search engine to improve the experience for end users. In the fourth quarter, Reddit said it had made “significant progress” in unifying its core search and its AI feature. It also released five new languages on Reddit Answers and is piloting dynamic agents along with search results that include “media beyond text.”

Though Reddit sees value in its AI answers, it’s not been keeping that to itself. The company’s content licensing business, which allows other companies to train their AI models on its data, is growing, too. That business revenue is reported as part of Reddit’s “other” revenues (i.e., its non-ad revenue). This “other” revenue increased by 8% year-over-year to reach $36 million in Q4 and was up 22% to reach $140 million for 2025.

Source link
#Reddit #search #big #opportunity #TechCrunch

White House officials are exploring official government oversight of new AI models, according to the New York Times.

U.S. officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told the publication that the Trump administration is forming an AI working group composed of tech leaders and government representatives. The group will be tasked with outlining potential oversight procedures for new models launching to market, including formal review processes, the Times reported.

The proposed plans were discussed at a White House meeting last week with representatives from Anthropic, Google, and OpenAI.

Potentially influenced by regulatory processes announced by UK regulators, which relegate AI oversight to relevant government bodies, the working group would also determine which U.S. agencies would be tasked with oversight. Some officials have suggested the National Security Agency (NSA), the White House Office of the National Cyber Director, and the director of national intelligence take the lead, while others have even suggested revitalizing the Biden-era Center for A.I. Standards and Innovation, according to the Times.

The administration has reversed its stance on AI regulation in recent months, despite announcing a federal AI action plan that pulled back on regulation of tech companies and threatened to reduce federal funding for states that impeded AI infrastructure efforts through regulation. Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill also included limits on state governments’ AI regulation, originally proposing a 10-year moratorium on state action in favor of federal oversight.

Trump appointee and FCC chairman Brendan Carr has also advocated for a light-touch approach to AI regulation.

#Trump #federal #model #oversight">Trump considering federal AI model oversight
                                                            White House officials are exploring official government oversight of new AI models, according to the New York Times. U.S. officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told the publication that the Trump administration is forming an AI working group composed of tech leaders and government representatives. The group will be tasked with outlining potential oversight procedures for new models launching to market, including formal review processes, the Times reported. 
        SEE ALSO:
        
            Student sues matchmaking app for allegedly stealing her likeness for an ad
            
        
    
The proposed plans were discussed at a White House meeting last week with representatives from Anthropic, Google, and OpenAI. 
        
            Mashable Light Speed
        
        
    

Potentially influenced by regulatory processes announced by UK regulators, which relegate AI oversight to relevant government bodies, the working group would also determine which U.S. agencies would be tasked with oversight. Some officials have suggested the National Security Agency (NSA), the White House Office of the National Cyber Director, and the director of national intelligence take the lead, while others have even suggested revitalizing the Biden-era Center for A.I. Standards and Innovation, according to the Times. The administration has reversed its stance on AI regulation in recent months, despite announcing a federal AI action plan that pulled back on regulation of tech companies and threatened to reduce federal funding for states that impeded AI infrastructure efforts through regulation. Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill also included limits on state governments’ AI regulation, originally proposing a 10-year moratorium on state action in favor of federal oversight. 
Trump appointee and FCC chairman Brendan Carr has also advocated for a light-touch approach to AI regulation. 

                    
                                            
                            
                        
                                    #Trump #federal #model #oversight

government oversight of new AI models, according to the New York Times.

U.S. officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told the publication that the Trump administration is forming an AI working group composed of tech leaders and government representatives. The group will be tasked with outlining potential oversight procedures for new models launching to market, including formal review processes, the Times reported.

The proposed plans were discussed at a White House meeting last week with representatives from Anthropic, Google, and OpenAI.

Potentially influenced by regulatory processes announced by UK regulators, which relegate AI oversight to relevant government bodies, the working group would also determine which U.S. agencies would be tasked with oversight. Some officials have suggested the National Security Agency (NSA), the White House Office of the National Cyber Director, and the director of national intelligence take the lead, while others have even suggested revitalizing the Biden-era Center for A.I. Standards and Innovation, according to the Times.

The administration has reversed its stance on AI regulation in recent months, despite announcing a federal AI action plan that pulled back on regulation of tech companies and threatened to reduce federal funding for states that impeded AI infrastructure efforts through regulation. Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill also included limits on state governments’ AI regulation, originally proposing a 10-year moratorium on state action in favor of federal oversight.

Trump appointee and FCC chairman Brendan Carr has also advocated for a light-touch approach to AI regulation.

#Trump #federal #model #oversight">Trump considering federal AI model oversight

White House officials are exploring official government oversight of new AI models, according to the New York Times.

U.S. officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told the publication that the Trump administration is forming an AI working group composed of tech leaders and government representatives. The group will be tasked with outlining potential oversight procedures for new models launching to market, including formal review processes, the Times reported.

The proposed plans were discussed at a White House meeting last week with representatives from Anthropic, Google, and OpenAI.

Potentially influenced by regulatory processes announced by UK regulators, which relegate AI oversight to relevant government bodies, the working group would also determine which U.S. agencies would be tasked with oversight. Some officials have suggested the National Security Agency (NSA), the White House Office of the National Cyber Director, and the director of national intelligence take the lead, while others have even suggested revitalizing the Biden-era Center for A.I. Standards and Innovation, according to the Times.

The administration has reversed its stance on AI regulation in recent months, despite announcing a federal AI action plan that pulled back on regulation of tech companies and threatened to reduce federal funding for states that impeded AI infrastructure efforts through regulation. Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill also included limits on state governments’ AI regulation, originally proposing a 10-year moratorium on state action in favor of federal oversight.

Trump appointee and FCC chairman Brendan Carr has also advocated for a light-touch approach to AI regulation.

#Trump #federal #model #oversight

Post Comment