Cloudflare to block AI data-scraping by default

Cloud connectivity company Cloudflare has announced that it will block artificial intelligence (AI) web crawlers from accessing website content without permission or compensation by default. Beginning Tuesday, 1 July 2025, website operators will be able to choose which AI crawlers can access their content and how it can be used. To help publishers determine which crawlers to allow access to their content, AI companies can now also specify whether their crawler's purpose is for training, inference, or search.

Cloudflare's CEO, Matthew Prince, said the initiative is designed to ensure a sustainable future for both content creators and AI innovators. "If the Internet is going to survive the age of AI, we need to give publishers the control they deserve and build a new economic model that works for everyone," he said. This new model seeks to safeguard a free and vibrant internet, fostering innovation while ensuring creators are properly acknowledged.

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