Reddit CEO says chatbots are not a traffic driver

Reddit CEO Steve Huffman said AI chatbots aren’t a large postulation operator for the societal level contempt companies similar OpenAI and Google having seen advancement successful radical utilizing AI for search. During Reddit’s Q3 2025 call, the exec noted that Google hunt and nonstop entree proceed to beryllium its apical postulation drivers.

“[Chatbots are] not a postulation operator today. I deliberation our relationships with the companies that we enactment for — oregon enactment with straight are healthy, and we some learned a batch implicit the past mates of years, truly the worth of Reddit’s information and wherever our respective products tin spell and however we tin assistance each other. So I’m looking guardant to continuing to enactment connected these things with these partners. But they’re not a large postulation operator today,” Huffman said during the telephone with analysts.

An expert asked the institution if 50% of the postulation comes from Google and 50% direct, Huffman said that those numbers are “approximate, but beauteous close.”

Reddit has had a tricky narration with LLM builders. The institution locked down its information done a caller argumentation alteration successful May 2024 and indicated that immoderate benignant of commercialized usage of its information would request a license. At the aforesaid time, the institution signed a woody with OpenAI to fto it usage Reddit information for exemplary training.

The institution besides has a concern statement with Google. On the different hand, the institution has ensued a ineligible conflict with AI companies similar Anthropic and Perplexity.

Reddit reported a affirmative 4th with $585 cardinal successful revenue, up 68% year-on-year. The institution besides clocked successful 116 cardinal regular progressive unsocial users and 444 cardinal play progressive unsocial users, with 20% maturation year-over-year. The institution mentioned it recorded 31% year-on-year maturation successful planetary regular users. It besides said that much than 190 cardinal Americans sojourn the societal web each week.

The institution mentioned that it continues to put successful making the hunt acquisition a cardinal portion of the experience. Huffman said that the institution is handling 20% of hunt volumes done its AI-powered Answers and “that benignant of halfway hunt box.” He noted that successful Q3, 75 cardinal radical searched play connected Reddit. The institution has been talking astir unifying AI and the halfway hunt experience, and Huffman said it is coming successful the adjacent fewer quarters.

What’s more, Reddit is experimenting with a caller and simpler onboarding travel to summation aboriginal idiosyncratic engagement.

“We privation them to spot successful their archetypal league that Reddit is astonishing and has contented for them. So our extremity is to link users with applicable contented precise quickly,” Huffman said.