Will this undermine most of what makes IAmA special? Probably. But Reddit leadership has all the funds they need to hire people to perform those extra tasks we formerly undertook as volunteer moderators, and we’d be happy to collaborate with them if they choose to do so.
It’s a fairly brilliant move. They’re doing their duty as mods to the community. If Reddit wants to replace them, it has to be with people who are willing to actively do more work than just moderation, for free. They’d probably have to hire someone just to do AMA.
I really, really hope Victoria is getting a pitiful call from HR right now to come back.