Content Platforms Sell User Data to AI Companies, Sparking Privacy Concerns

Automattic and Reddit are among those monetizing user-generated content for AI training, amidst legal challenges and growing privacy worries.

Automattic, the parent company of Tumblr and WordPress, is reportedly selling user data to AI companies like OpenAI and Midjourney to train their AI models.
Reddit has sold access to its vast archives of user posts to Google for $60 million, aiming to monetize the content for AI model training.
Users of Tumblr and WordPress can opt out of sharing their public content with third parties, following backlash over privacy concerns.
The New York Times is suing OpenAI for allegedly using its archives without permission to train chatbots, highlighting the legal challenges AI companies face over data usage.
AI companies are increasingly seeking deals with content platforms to access large datasets for training, raising concerns about copyright infringement and user privacy.