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Cloudflare launches a tool to combat AI bots | TechCrunch

Jul 03, 2024 - techcrunch.com
Cloudflare, a publicly-traded cloud service provider, has introduced a free tool to prevent bots from scraping websites on its platform for AI model training data. The tool was developed in response to the fact that not all AI scrapers respect the robots.txt file, which tells bots which pages they can access on a website. Cloudflare's tool uses AI bot and crawler traffic analysis to fine-tune automatic bot detection models, considering factors such as whether a bot is trying to evade detection by mimicking human web browser behavior.

The issue of AI bots scraping data has become more prominent due to the increasing demand for model training data in the AI industry. While some website owners have opted to block AI scrapers and crawlers, this is not always effective as some vendors ignore standard bot exclusion rules. Cloudflare's tool could help address this issue, provided it proves effective in detecting clandestine AI bots.

Key takeaways:

  • Cloudflare has launched a free tool to prevent bots from scraping websites hosted on its platform for data to train AI models.
  • The tool was developed after analyzing AI bot and crawler traffic to fine-tune automatic bot detection models, which can identify bots trying to evade detection by mimicking human web browser behavior.
  • Cloudflare has also set up a form for hosts to report suspected AI bots and crawlers and will continue to manually blacklist AI bots over time.
  • The issue of AI bots scraping data has become more prominent due to the generative AI boom and the increasing demand for model training data, leading to many sites blocking AI scrapers and crawlers.
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