Reddit wants to be a search engine now

Reddit knows that it has invaluable information from existent radical — it’s already reached deals with large AI companies similar OpenAI and Google to stock its information with them. But Reddit is besides investing successful improving its ain hunt capabilities, and successful its latest note to investors, CEO Steve Huffman says that the institution is “concentrating our resources connected the areas that volition thrust results for our astir pressing needs,” including “making Reddit a go-to hunt engine.”

Huffman says that “every week, hundreds of millions of radical travel to Reddit looking for advice, and we’re turning much of that intent into progressive users of Reddit’s autochthonal search.” Reddit’s halfway hunt has much than 70 cardinal play progressive unsocial users — Reddit wide averages 416.4 cardinal play progressive unsocial users — and Reddit Answers, the platform’s AI hunt instrumentality that it launched successful December, has 6 cardinal play users, up from 1 cardinal play users successful the archetypal 4th of this year.

To proceed to physique retired search, Reddit is “expanding Reddit Answers globally, integrating it much profoundly into the halfway hunt experience, and making hunt a cardinal diagnostic crossed Reddit,” Huffman says.

Of course, the determination to physique retired its ain hunt capabilities could beryllium a hedge against losing postulation from Google, which is progressively uncovering caller ways to springiness you answers with AI alternatively of providing a database of links. Appending the connection “Reddit” to Google searches is simply a classical mode to effort and get accusation written by humans, and Reddit has seen an influx of postulation arsenic a result. But if Google becomes a little reliable root of postulation for Reddit, the level whitethorn request to person amended hunt for itself.

Reddit turned 20 past month, and the institution is going large connected AI. (In an interrogation astatine the time, CTO Chris Slowe told The Verge that the archetypal rollout of Reddit Answers is “going truly well.”) “The net is evolving, and our relation arsenic a community-powered level for quality transportation is lone becoming much critical,” Huffman says.