Reddit answers with AI – based on posts

Reddit wants to provide answers. That's why the new feature is simply called “Answers.” After its US launch, Answers is now also coming to Germany. Behind it is an AI function. Nevertheless, Reddit wants to make a significant difference compared to Google and OpenAI.

The answers are by no means intended to be AI-generated continuous texts with content of unknown origin. AI is intended to help find the best and most suitable answer—from all the answers and posts written by humans that exist on Reddit. Of course, no one can guarantee that a person hasn't had an AI text generated and then posted it on Reddit. The content of the posts will be summarized and directly linked, so that you can immediately enter the respective post and the associated thread. Reddit emphasizes that the AI does not adopt its opinions or perspectives but tries to reflect what people have written. It is intended to provide “real insights from authentic human experiences.”

Reddit is becoming increasingly valuable

“By accessing real conversations in over 100,000 Reddit communities, Answers offers a faster, smarter, and more authentic way to search on Reddit,” Reddit writes in a blog post. The platform is acutely aware of the value of its community. Not only do people turn to Reddit for almost any type of question, but the network is also of great interest to AI companies. Reddit charges for this data in expensive licensing agreements with Google and others so that they can use it for AI training.

An AI doesn't know which child seat is the best. An AI can only answer such questions if people have already answered them elsewhere, said Jen Wong, Chief Operating Officer (COO) from Reddit, at this year's OMR Festival. 110 million people use Reddit actively every day. According to its statements, Reddit recently recorded growth in weekly active users in Germany of more than 35 percent year-on-year in the second quarter of 2025 and 2024.

Answers will now respond to every question. The search for an answer is intended to become interactive; this intention aligns with that of Google, OpenAI, Meta, or Anthropic. They all want to enable deeper dives into topics and offer interactive experiences. “For people, conversations and real connections are becoming increasingly valuable—and at the same time rarer. In a world increasingly shaped by algorithms and automation, the need for human voices has never been greater,” says Steve Huffman, CEO of Reddit, at the presentation of the second quarter 2025 figures.

(emw)