Reddit has taken legal action against AI startup Anthropic, accusing the company of unlawfully scraping content from its platform to train the Claude AI chatbot, despite public promises to avoid such practices. The lawsuit, filed in San Francisco, marks a major escalation in the ongoing battle over
Reddit has filed a lawsuit against artificial intelligence startup Anthropic, accusing it of scraping vast amounts of user-generated content from the platform to train its AI models without permission.
The lawsuit, lodged in San Francisco Superior Court on Wednesday, alleges that Anthropic used Reddit content to train its Claude chatbot, even after publicly stating last July that it had blocked its bots from accessing Reddit’s servers. The company, backed by tech giants Amazon and Alphabet (Google’s parent company), is now facing claims of violating Reddit’s user policy and unjustly enriching itself "to the tune of tens of billions of dollars."
“We believe in an open internet,” said Reddit Chief Legal Officer Ben Lee. “But AI companies need clear limitations on how they use content they scrape.”
According to the complaint, Anthropic's bots accessed—or attempted to access—Reddit content more than 100,000 times, despite repeated requests to enter into a licensing agreement. Reddit highlighted that unlike Google and OpenAI, Anthropic has refused to respect platform guardrails or formalize content usage.
Reddit further pointed to statements from Anthropic’s Claude chatbot, which reportedly admitted it had been trained on "at least some Reddit data" and was unsure whether that data had since been deleted.
In a statement, Anthropic responded:
“We disagree with Reddit’s claims and will defend ourselves vigorously.”
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages, restitution, and a court order preventing Anthropic from using Reddit content for commercial purposes.
The case marks the latest flashpoint in a broader debate over how AI companies gather training data—often from publicly available platforms—without compensating content creators.
Anthropic launched its latest models, Claude Opus 4 and Sonnet 4, on May 22. The company’s annualized revenue has reportedly surged to $3 billion, according to sources familiar with its financials.
Both Reddit and Anthropic are based in San Francisco, separated by less than a mile—but the growing tension between social platforms and AI developers is drawing global attention to the legal and ethical boundaries of data use in the AI era.
The European Commission has issued its strongest criticism yet of Ukraine’s leadership, warning that a new law undermining anti-corruption agencies ...
Iran has agreed to host a U.N. nuclear watchdog delegation to discuss future cooperation, as tensions grow over uranium stockpiles and post-strike nuc...
The United Nations' top court has declared that failing to curb emissions violates international law, marking a historic moment for global climate jus...
The World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Tuesday that the world could be on the brink of another chikungunya epidemic, similar to the 2005 outbre...
Israeli authorities have completed an investigation into an alleged plot to assassinate Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, officials confirmed today....
Iran has agreed to host a U.N. nuclear watchdog delegation to discuss future cooperation, as tensions grow over uranium stockpiles and post-strike nuclear site access.
The United Nations' top court has declared that failing to curb emissions violates international law, marking a historic moment for global climate justice and setting the stage for future legal action against polluting states.
The World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Tuesday that the world could be on the brink of another chikungunya epidemic, similar to the 2005 outbreak, unless swift measures are implemented to control its spread.
Israeli authorities have completed an investigation into an alleged plot to assassinate Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, officials confirmed today.
The world’s biggest dance music festival faces an unexpected setback as a fire destroys its main stage, prompting a last-minute response from organisers determined to keep the party alive in Boom, Belgium.
Australian researchers have created a groundbreaking “biological AI” platform that could revolutionise drug discovery by rapidly evolving molecules within mammalian cells.
Australian researchers have pioneered a low-cost and scalable plasma-based method to produce ammonia gas directly from air, offering a green alternative to the traditional fossil fuel-dependent Haber-Bosch process.
A series of earthquakes have struck Guatemala on Tuesday afternoon, leading authorities to advise residents to evacuate from buildings as a precaution against possible aftershocks.
The U.S. economy faces a 40% risk of recession in the second half of 2025, JP Morgan analysts said on Wednesday, citing rising tariffs and stagflation concerns.
The European Commission has issued its strongest criticism yet of Ukraine’s leadership, warning that a new law undermining anti-corruption agencies could jeopardise Kyiv’s EU membership path.
Israeli authorities have completed an investigation into an alleged plot to assassinate Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, officials confirmed today.
The third round of renewed peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia, facilitated by Türkiye, is set to begin in Istanbul on Wednesday evening.
Italy and Algeria agreed on Wednesday to cooperate on fighting terrorism and managing migration flows during an intergovernmental meeting in Rome, while companies signed new deals in energy and telecommunications.
Ozzy Osbourne, frontman of Black Sabbath and a towering figure in heavy metal, has died aged 76, sparking an outpouring of grief and admiration from fellow musicians, fans and industry legends.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment