Reddit (RDDT) just turned 21 years old and has seen its fair share of technological changes that have forced it to evolve.
The iPhone.
The rise of AI summaries from the likes of Google (GOOG, GOOGL).
AI agents patrolling the internet.
Steve Huffman co-founded Reddit in 2005 with college friend Alexis Ohanian and is currently CEO. With a long-term goal of hitting 1 billion users, Huffman acknowledges the platform will have to keep innovating to keep up with the times. Yahoo Finance caught up with Huffman at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity this week.
Here’s an excerpt from our interview.
What’s the biggest change coming to the internet in the next 10 years?
“I think what’s going to change potentially is the primary user interface for computers now that voice and audio are so powerful. You can talk to your computer now, you can listen to your computer now … So I think this could mean, you know, audio Reddit, background listening, being able to talk to it, that sort of thing. Those are things we’re not actively working on right now, but they’re on our minds…
“The fundamental need that people have is they want to be connected to other people around their common interests and passions, so that doesn’t change.”
Will the computer go away then?
“I think it’s more of an expansion. This is the bad news. I think there’s more computers in our life. I think the mouse and the keyboard and the screen are very powerful and aren’t likely going away. You’re just going to get more ears and badges of watches, and we will never be able to escape.”
Brian Sozzi is Yahoo Finance’s Executive Editor and a member of Yahoo Finance’s editorial leadership team. Follow Sozzi on X @BrianSozzi, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Tips on stories? Email brian.sozzi@yahoofinance.com.
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