A recent Wired report reveals that several major digital companies have opted to prevent Apple from using their data to train artificial intelligence models. Notable among these companies are Meta, The New York Times, and Condé Nast.
These organizations have utilized a tool provided by Apple to block the inclusion of their data in Apple’s AI training datasets. This decision reflects a growing trend among companies to control how their data is used to develop AI technologies.
Applebot Blocking
Apple recently introduced a new feature allowing website owners to control whether their data can be used for training Apple’s AI models. This feature, which became available a few months ago, lets sites block the Applebot-Extended bot through a configuration file known as “robots.txt.” Blocking the bot does not prevent it from accessing the site for other purposes, such as search indexing, but it does ensure that the site’s data isn’t used in Apple’s AI projects.
According to Wired, several high-profile companies have opted to block Applebot-Extended. These include Meta (which owns Facebook and Instagram), The New York Times, and Condé Nast (which owns Vogue, The New Yorker, and Vanity Fair). Other platforms that have restricted access include Craigslist, Vox Media (which operates sites like The Verge and Eater), as well as the Financial Times, The Atlantic, and USA Today.
Data for AI training
This decision to block Applebot-Extended highlights rising concerns among media companies and online platforms about how their data is used for AI training, particularly regarding copyright issues and the potential commercial exploitation of their content without proper compensation.
The resistance to data collection by AI bots extends beyond Apple. Companies like OpenAI and Google have also encountered pushback, with various organizations blocking their bots for similar reasons.
A notable example is The New York Times, which, in addition to blocking Applebot-Extended, is currently suing OpenAI over copyright concerns. The newspaper has voiced worries about the unauthorized use of its content and has emphasized that blocking these bots is crucial to safeguard its intellectual property.
Despite some companies choosing to block it, many websites have not yet taken this step. Recent analyses indicate that only a small fraction of high-traffic sites have blocked Applebot-Extended so far, though this number is slowly increasing.
