Tradable online platform Reddit has run into a potential hurdle in its next IPOS. Initial news reports revealed that the redacted documents included partnership agreements with firms (Google being at the top), among which Reddit’s content was the basis for AI models to learn. Google reportedly uses real-time access to all live posts on the platform provided by potentially $60 million annually, raising doubts about what the data are being used for or whether they are allowed to be accessed.
When the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) accused the merging company of anti-competitive business practices, the fight was dominated by the FTC’s assertive investigation. Details are vague enough but FTC officials have requested information on Reddit about personalized AI interactions with customers. The issue of privacy, whether it arises during civil debate or other things, is also a question that is yet to be shed light on.
It is completely unfair for Reddit to now face the problems it is already struggling with. Each FTC investigation could disrupt, derail, or even derail a potential IPO process. Reddit’s solution seemed to summarize the uselessness of the investigation in the shareholder’s mind.
They are alleging that the FTC is protecting its interests by saying that this is because of the lack of experience in these types of agreements between app owners and agencies that sell data to learn AI. They also mention that “do not engage in unfair or deceptive trading”.
On the other hand, the attention that the FTC is paying to this matter shows that the further development of AI is accompanied by an increasing interest in the ethics of users’ personal data use and the training of AI on the largest online resources. Whether or not Reddit is ready to IPO could become an issue of how fair they will be with data privacy transparency and compliance.
