Reddit looks to AI search as its next big opportunity

Reddit’s Bold AI Search Gambit: A $36M Bet on the Future of Answers

In a move that could reshape the future of online search, Reddit is doubling down on artificial intelligence—not just as a product enhancement, but as a potential goldmine for its business model. During its fourth-quarter earnings call on Thursday, the social media giant hinted that its AI-powered search engine might be the next frontier in both user engagement and revenue generation.

CEO Steve Huffman didn’t mince words: “There’s a type of query we’re, I think, particularly good at—I would argue, the best on the internet—which is questions that have no answers, where the answer actually is multiple perspectives from lots of people.” In other words, Reddit isn’t trying to compete with Google on every search term—it’s carving out a niche where human conversation and AI synthesis meet.

From 60 Million to 80 Million: Search’s Explosive Growth

Reddit’s traditional search has seen a 30% year-over-year surge in weekly active users, climbing from 60 million to 80 million. But the real headline is Reddit Answers, the platform’s AI-powered conversational search tool. Launched in early 2025, it went from 1 million weekly active users in Q1 to a staggering 15 million by Q4—a 1,400% increase in less than a year.

Huffman called this growth “a lot of potential,” and it’s easy to see why. Reddit Answers isn’t just another chatbot; it’s a tool designed to surface the collective wisdom of Reddit’s millions of niche communities, delivering curated, context-rich responses instead of a list of links.

The Death of the Login Wall?

In a surprising strategic pivot, Reddit announced it will eliminate the distinction between logged-in and logged-out users starting in Q3 2026. The goal? To make the platform more personalized and relevant to anyone who lands on it—whether they’re a die-hard Redditor or a first-time visitor.

This shift is powered by AI and machine learning, which will tailor content and search results to individual users in real time. It’s a bold bet that the future of social media isn’t about walled gardens, but about open, intelligent experiences that adapt to the user.

Monetization on the Horizon

While Reddit Answers isn’t yet monetized, Huffman was clear that “it’s an enormous market and opportunity.” The company is already experimenting with richer, media-filled search results and dynamic agents that can guide users through complex queries.

And Reddit isn’t keeping its AI prowess to itself. Its content licensing business—which allows other companies to train their AI models on Reddit’s vast trove of user-generated content—brought in $36 million in Q4 2025, up 8% year-over-year. For the full year, this “other” revenue stream hit $140 million, a 22% increase.

The Future Is Conversational

Reddit’s vision is clear: the future of search isn’t just about finding links—it’s about finding answers. And in a world where traditional search engines are increasingly cluttered with ads and SEO-optimized fluff, Reddit’s blend of human insight and AI curation could be exactly what users are craving.

As Huffman put it, “LLMs can be good at this, too, if not better.” With Reddit Answers, the company is betting that the next generation of search will be conversational, contextual, and—most importantly—human.

Tags: Reddit, AI search, Reddit Answers, Steve Huffman, generative AI, search engine, content licensing, weekly active users, machine learning, social media, Q4 earnings, monetization, conversational AI, Reddit growth, AI-powered search

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• “Traditional search is navigation; Reddit Answers is discovery.”

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