Key facts
- Patreon is now actively blocking AI training bots from scraping its content.
- The company is partnering with Cloudflare to implement these stricter measures.
- Patreon's previous method involved asking bots not to scrape via robots.txt files.
- The new approach uses Cloudflare's AI Crawl Control technology for direct blocking.
- Patreon aims to give creators more control over the use of their work by AI companies.
Patreon has begun actively blocking AI bots from scraping creator content, a significant shift from its previous approach of requesting they refrain. The membership platform for creators is collaborating with internet infrastructure provider Cloudflare to implement these enhanced measures.
Previously, Patreon relied on robots.txt files to instruct AI crawlers not to access its site. However, the company found these requests were often ignored, with AI training bots continuing to scrape content. This led to the decision to move towards direct blocking, utilizing Cloudflare's AI Crawl Control technology.