Reddit sues Anthropic over alleged unauthorized use of its data

Reddit has taken legal action against AI startup Anthropic, filing a lawsuit on Wednesday in San Francisco Superior Court.

The social media company claims Anthropic harvested its user-generated content without permission to train AI systems, despite previously suggesting it would not do so.

This case adds to the mounting legal pressure facing AI firms accused of exploiting external content without proper authorization.

Anthropic, which counts Amazon and Google’s parent company Alphabet among its major investors, has pushed back against the allegations.

"We do not agree with Reddit’s accusations and intend to strongly defend our position," a spokesperson for Anthropic responded.

The lawsuit claims that Anthropic continued using Reddit’s content to train its Claude chatbot while avoiding a licensing deal, despite asserting last July that it had blocked its bots from accessing the platform.

Reddit cited Claude, acknowledging it was trained on at least some Reddit data, and being unsure whether that data had since been deleted.

According to the filing, Anthropic’s bots accessed or attempted to access Reddit’s content over 100,000 times, actions Reddit argues contradict the startup’s image as an AI “white knight” focused on transparency and ethics.

The complaint further states that, unlike Google and OpenAI, Anthropic has refused to honor Reddit’s content guidelines or negotiate a licensing agreement.

Reddit accuses the company of violating its user policies and profiting commercially, allegedly earning billions by misusing its content.

Reddit’s Chief Legal Officer, Ben Lee, emphasized the company's support for an open internet but stressed the need for "clear limitations" on how AI firms utilize scraped content.

Both Reddit and Anthropic are headquartered in San Francisco, just a short walk apart.

The lawsuit demands unspecified restitution and punitive damages, along with a court order blocking Anthropic from using Reddit’s content for any commercial use.

Anthropic unveiled its latest AI models, Claude Opus 4 and Sonnet 4, on May 22.

According to two sources familiar with the company's finances, its annualized revenue has now climbed to $3 billion.

The lawsuit is filed as Reddit Inc v. Anthropic PBC, Case No. CGC-25-524892, in California Superior Court, San Francisco County.