- Reddit vice president Jack Hanlon left the company earlier this year after almost four years.
- Hanlon led a team investing in artificial intelligence for both users and advertisers.
- The company has filed for an IPO in 2021 and could go public as early as this year.
Reddit’s vice president, who oversaw the integration of artificial intelligence into its products, retired earlier this year as the social media company prepared to go public.
Jack Hanlon, former vice president of feeds, AI, search and data, spent nearly four years at Reddit and acquired an AI company aimed at helping Reddit improve user experience and ad targeting for brands. led.
Reddit and Hanlon confirmed they had stepped down in March.
On LinkedIn, Hanlon said he was the first executive on Reddit to hold the role, growing the team from 21 to 250 people.
Reddit filed for an initial public offering in December 2021, when the tech stock market was booming. Since then, rising interest rates and weak demand for tech stocks have dried up capital across the industry. The company now hopes to go public in the second half of this year. Employees told insiders the road to an IPO was riddled with “challenges” due to roadmap changes that could allow the organization to streamline its middle management.
AI is becoming more and more important for social media companies. This technology recommends content to users and helps businesses target their advertising. Reddit has increased its investment in this area, especially to grow its advertising business and automate content moderation. The company has acquired AI startups such as Spell and Oterlu.
Reddit’s quarterly revenue hits $100 million for the first time in 2021. The Information reports that growth is slowing.
Reddit recently dealt with public backlash over its decision to start charging for access to its API, resulting in the closure of popular third-party client Apollo. This has led to protests from unpaid moderators who help keep spam and other harmful content out of the site. They argued that if Reddit wanted to make money from its efforts, it should be compensated accordingly.
Reddit has not backed down, arguing it cannot subsidize apps that do not display ads or generate revenue for the company. The New York Times reported that CEO Steve Huffman said he wanted companies to be paid to train AI language models based on their content.
