shares of reddit Shares fell 9% on Wednesday after the Wall Street Journal reported the company was in talks to shut down operations. Google Access that content to use artificial intelligence.
Reddit stock has fallen about 19% since the beginning of the year.
The two companies signed a deal in 2024 that will allow the search giant to train its AI models on Reddit content. But Reddit is reconsidering the benefits of the partnership after Google’s AI summaries have reduced traffic to its website from search results pages, the magazine reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
The search traffic trend was also seen on other sites, with Politico’s Google traffic down 23% from June 2025 to 2026, CNN down about 25% and Business Insider down more than 85%, the magazine reported.
CNBC has reached out to both Reddit and Google for comment.
Reddit’s $60 million annual contract with Google is about to end, and the two companies are in talks about potentially renewing their partnership, the magazine said.
Reddit has a similar partnership with OpenAI, which will allow ChatGPT makers to train AI models based on their content. This is part of Reddit’s data licensing business, which helped boost revenue last quarter.
In the first quarter, the company reported a 69% year-over-year increase in sales, well above analysts’ expectations, with earnings per share of $1.01 versus the expected 58 cents and revenue of $663 million versus the expected $611 million.
“We have significant partnerships with both Google and OpenAI,” Reddit CEO Huffman told analysts on an earnings call. “They mean a lot to us, and I think it’s mutual. We will continue to cherish them.”
The company is scheduled to announce its second quarter financial results on July 30th.
Reddit’s 5-day stock chart.
