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Patreon stops asking AI bots not to scrape — and starts blocking them
Patreon is implementing measures to block AI bots from scraping creator content for training. Collaborating with Cloudflare, the platform aims to enhance its protections after AI scraping became more advanced. This move reflects a growing concern among content creators about unauthorized usage of their work by AI technologies.
Key points
- Patreon is blocking AI scraping of creator content for training purposes.
- The company partners with Cloudflare to enforce restrictions on AI bots.
- Enhanced protections were deemed necessary due to the sophistication of AI scraping since early 2023.
- New discovery tools by Patreon exposed more content to crawlers.
- Cloudflare offers a marketplace, 'Pay Per Crawl,' allowing websites to charge AI bots.
- Patreon previously used robots.txt files but is now actively blocking non-compliant AI bots.
- Testing showed a drop from thousands to zero AI scraping attempts, indicating previous non-compliance.
- Patreon asserts that creators deserve control over how their work is used by AI companies.
Why it matters
- The rise of AI technologies has increased the need for content protection.
- Similar issues have been raised by other online publishers regarding AI learning from their content.
- The trend of regulating AI scraping reflects broader discussions about intellectual property and creators’ rights.
- In 2025, more businesses will likely align their policies to protect original content from unauthorized AI usage.
Patreon’s proactive measures to block AI bots signify a pivotal shift in how digital platforms protect creator rights, highlighting the need for stronger regulations amid the rise of AI technologies.