In a bold legal move that could reshape how artificial intelligence companies access online content, Reddit has filed a lawsuit against AI startup Anthropic, accusing it of using Reddit data without authorization to train its AI chatbot, Claude.
Filed in San Francisco Superior Court, the lawsuit marks the latest escalation in the growing tension between online platforms and AI developers over content rights. Reddit claims that Anthropic repeatedly accessed and used data from its site—despite previously pledging it wouldn’t—and has done so for massive commercial gain.
According to the complaint, Reddit alleges Anthropic scraped its website more than 100,000 times, bypassing safeguards and ignoring the company’s terms of service. What’s more, Anthropic allegedly refused to sign a licensing agreement, unlike companies like Google and OpenAI, which have entered such agreements with Reddit.
Anthropic’s AI chatbot, Claude, reportedly admitted it was trained on “at least some Reddit data” and wasn’t even sure if any of it had been deleted. Reddit believes this behavior not only breaches its policies but also undermines user trust—especially when the company involved presents itself as an “AI white knight” that upholds values of integrity and transparency.
“Anthropic refuses to respect Reddit’s guardrails,” the lawsuit reads, “and has enriched itself to the tune of tens of billions of dollars.”
Reddit is seeking monetary damages and an injunction to stop Anthropic from using Reddit content in the future. While the exact financial compensation is unspecified, Reddit alleges significant harm—both financially and reputationally.
Anthropic, backed by tech giants Amazon and Google’s parent company Alphabet, responded swiftly, saying, “We disagree with Reddit’s claims and will defend ourselves vigorously.”
This lawsuit also arrives just weeks after Anthropic launched its new Claude models—Opus 4 and Sonnet 4—and was reported to be generating $3 billion in annualized revenue.
Reddit’s Chief Legal Officer Ben Lee emphasized that while the company supports an open internet, it also believes AI companies need clear ethical and legal boundaries. “We believe in an open internet,” Lee said, “but that doesn’t mean AI companies should freely scrape and profit from communities without permission.”
Both Reddit and Anthropic are headquartered in San Francisco—just ten minutes apart. But in the courtroom, they’re miles away in philosophy and approach. This legal battle could set a precedent that determines how AI companies access and use third-party data in the future.
As AI rapidly evolves and companies race to build ever-smarter models, the question of who owns online data and how it should be used will only grow more critical.
