Reddit has initiated legal action against AI company Anthropic, alleging the unauthorised use of its data to train AI models, reports Reuters.

The lawsuit, lodged in San Francisco Superior Court, underscores the escalating tensions around the use of third-party content by AI companies without proper licensing.

The dispute hinges on Anthropic’s use of Reddit content to develop its Claude chatbot. Despite assurances in July that it had barred its bots from Reddit’s platform, the social media company contends that Anthropic has repeatedly accessed its data without entering a licensing agreement.

“We disagree with Reddit’s claims and will defend ourselves vigorously,” an Anthropic spokesperson stated, signaling the company’s intention to contest the allegations.

The complaint details that Claude itself acknowledged being “trained on at least some Reddit data,” with uncertainty over whether such content was subsequently deleted.

The document also accuses Anthropic of attempting to access Reddit data over 100,000 times, challenging the AI startup’s self-proclaimed image as a “white knight” of AI, dedicated to trust and transparency.

The legal filing further argues that by scraping content for commercial gain, Anthropic has breached Reddit’s user policy and unjustly enriched itself, reportedly by billions of dollars. .

Reddit chief legal officer Ben Lee emphasised the need for “clear limitations” on AI companies’ use of scraped content, aligning with the company’s belief in an open internet.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified restitution and punitive damages, along with an injunction to prevent Anthropic from commercially exploiting Reddit’s content.

Both companies are headquartered in San Francisco, in close proximity to each other.

Anthropic recently unveiled its latest Claude models and is reported to have an annualised revenue of $3bn, reported Reuters citing sources familiar with the company’s finances.