r/MachineLearning: rules, audience and how brands can post there
3,082,051 members. Self-promotion allowed? Limited. Paid-product links only if the post adds value.
r/MachineLearning is a technical machine learning community of more than 3 million members. It sends beginners, AGI talk and career questions to other subreddits. Promoting a paid product is banned, but a post that links to one can stay if it gives the community real value and invites discussion.
Paste your draft on the next page. We flag likely self-promotion and rule problems before you post.
- Members
- 3,082,051
- Self-promotion
- Limited. Paid-product links only if the post adds value
- Created
- 2009
- Checked
- November 13, 2026
What r/MachineLearning is
Machine Learning
ML and AI infrastructure companies with researchers or engineers who can write technical posts and take hard questions.
Can a brand post in r/MachineLearning?
The No Self-Promotion rule bans promoting a paid product when the intent is clearly promotional. Linking to a paid product is acceptable if the post offers enough value and the intent is to share a resource or collect feedback in open discussion. The moderators make that call. A separate rule bans marketing campaigns aimed at members and posts written to rank for SEO, and the penalty is a permanent ban with every past post and comment purged. Posts need a tag such as [R], [D], [P] or [N], and the submit guidelines say not to post anything without technical detail. Research links need commentary. A bare arXiv link won't do.
What works
- A project post with real technical detail and an open question for discussion
- Sharing research with your own commentary or analysis, not a bare arXiv link
- Technical discussion where your product is incidental
- Sending beginner questions to r/mlquestions or r/learnmachinelearning, as the description asks
What gets removed
- Posts whose clear intent is to promote a paid product
- Marketing campaigns aimed at members and posts written for SEO, which get a permanent ban and a purged history
- Bare arXiv links with no body text
- Low-effort beginner questions and posts without a tag
The rules, summarised
- 1. No Spam
r/MachineLearning has held a long-standing, strict policy on spam. The posts deemed to be spam will be removed, and repeat offenders will be permanently banned from participating in the subreddit.
- 2. No Self-Promotion
r/MachineLearning does not permit the promotion of paid products, wherein the intent is clearly to promote a particular product. However, posts with links to paid products are acceptable, contingent on the fact that the post offers sufficient value to the community members and the intent is to share a resource or collect feedback for an open-dialogue.
- 3. No Marketing Campaigns (SEO)
r/MachineLearning strictly prohibits strategic marketing campaigns targeted at community members, and posts intended to rank for SEO purposes. In the event that such behavior is caught, the user in violation of our policy will be perpetually banned with all past posts and comments purged entirely from the subreddit.
- 4. No Disrespectful Behavior
r/MachineLearning is an all-inclusive community for a wide range of users, and thereby, kind and respectful behavior is expected in all interactions that occur on the subreddit. Therefore, please be cordial and professional at all times, and be cognizant of the fact that the user base comprises beginners interested in ML and far more experienced, technical individuals with practical experience.
- 5. No arXiv Links without Body Text
r/MachineLearning is not a depository of bare arXiv links. Therefore, for users that share research papers, please insert some form of commentary or analysis to initiate a community-wide discussion. In other words, low-effort posts will be removed for research papers.
- 6. No Low-Effort, Beginner Questions
r/MachineLearning will expand its scope to allow more content oriented around beginners, for a broader audience to participate in the subreddit. However, there is a fine-line between a question posted by user who, evidently, put in the time to research ML concepts and effort to communicate the guidance needed from industry practitioners, and then those that post questions that can be easily found online.
Source: the community's own rules page, read on November 13, 2026. Rules change, so check the page before you post. See also the 9:1 rule.
Frequently asked questions
Can I promote my AI product on r/MachineLearning?
Not directly. The rules ban posts whose intent is clearly to promote a paid product. A post that links to one can stay if it gives real value and invites open discussion, at the moderators' discretion.
What tags does r/MachineLearning require?
Every post needs a tag such as [R], [D], [P] or [N]. Untagged posts are on the do-not-submit list in the submit guidelines.
Want help earning a place in r/MachineLearning?
30-minute intro call with a partner. If we're not the fit, we'll tell you in the first five minutes.
We take on 3 new engagements per quarter. Serious teams only.