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AI-powered Reddit Answers allows users to access information based on Reddit posts, in move to reduce Google dependence
Reddit has begun rolling out an artificial intelligence-powered feature designed to provide information to users based on posts on the platform as well as helping to navigate the site.
Initially only a small portion of the services’s US users will have access to the feature, called Reddit Answers, for continued testing before a planned broader launch.
A button takes users to the feature, which allows users to ask questions in a way similar to generative AI services such as ChatGPT and Perplexity.
The feature responds by formulating an answer based on posts from the site, and provides links to go directly to the content.
AI access
The company has been testing the feature for six months and sees it as a way to improve the way people navigate the site.
Currently many people find posts on the service through Google searches, and the company said it is looking to reduce that dependence.
The firm said users will be able to create queries for any topic except those deemed “not safe for work”, or NSFW.
Chief executive Steve Huffman told analysts in October that the company sees search as a “focused investment” for 2025.
He said at the time that “Reddit” was the sixth most-searched word on Google in the US this year.
“They’re using, in this case, Google to navigate Reddit,” he said.
The feature is built on top of Reddit’s existing search tools and uses AI models from OpenAI and Google Cloud.
Reddit has content licensing deals with both OpenAI and Google, under which the companies pay to use Reddit content to improve their AI models.
AI translation
Reddit Answers is available in English for iOS and desktop users initially, with plans to roll it out on Android and in other languages in the future, the company said.
On the October earnings call Huffman said a new AI translation feature had become one of the main drivers of user growth, especially in countries such as France, India and the Philippines.
The tool includes translations between English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and German and Reddit plans to expand it to more than 30 countries into 2025.
Advertising remains the company’s biggest source of revenue, but it has said the licensing agreements with Google and OpenAI are beginning to pay off.
Reddit has said it is looking at ways of encouraging people to create accounts, and in August hinted it may introduce paywalls for some subreddits.
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