Reddit CEO mocks AI search features and paid subreddits

Reddit recently completed its second earnings call as a public company and CEO Steve Huffman hinted at some significant potential changes to the platform. During the call, the Reddit founder said the company will begin testing AI-powered search results later this year.

“Later this year, we’ll begin testing new AI-powered search results pages to curate and recommend content, helping users dive deeper into products, shows, games and discover new communities on Reddit,” Huffman said. He did not say when those tests would begin, but said they would use first- and third-person modes.

Huffman noted that search on Reddit “hasn’t changed for a long time” but that it’s a significant opportunity to bring in new users. He also said that search could one day be a major source of advertising revenue for the company.

Huffman also speculated on other non-advertising sources of income. He suggested that the company might experiment with paywalled subreddits as it looks to monetize new features. “I think the existing, no-nonsense, free version of Reddit is going to continue to exist and grow and succeed the way it has,” Huffman said. “But now we’re going to open the door to new use cases, new types of subreddits that can be created that can have exclusive content or private areas, things of that nature.”

A Reddit spokesperson declined to comment on Huffman’s comments. But it’s no secret that the company has been looking for new ways to grow its business since it went public earlier this year. It has secured multi-million dollar licensing deals and free search engines for the company.

“Other players in the ecosystem have never been exposed to their use of Reddit content, and in those cases, we block access to protect Reddit content and users’ privacy,” Huffman said. “We want to know where Reddit’s data is going and what it’s being used for, so those are the terms of engagement.”