"AI Information Collection Blocked"... Reuters and NYT Restrict Access to ChatGPT

Copyright Controversy Spreads... Restrictions on Unauthorized Use of Content

Sites blocking information collection by generative artificial intelligence (AI) ChatGPT are increasing, including Reuters, The New York Times, and CNN.

According to Originality.AI, an AI content information company, as of the 22nd, 9.2% of the world's top 1,000 most popular sites had blocked ChatGPT's web crawler. A web crawler is a program that browses websites to collect data.

On the 7th, OpenAI released its web crawler, GPTBot, and provided instructions for site owners who do not wish to have their information collected or used on how to block GPTBot's data collection.

The GPTBot blocking rate rose from less than 5% in the first week after its release on the 15th to 10% in the second week. Narrowing the scope to the top 100 major sites with many users, the blocking rate reached 15%. Sites blocking GPTBot include many media outlets such as Reuters, The New York Times, and CNN. Amid growing copyright controversies surrounding generative AI, these measures aim to prevent unauthorized use of content by ChatGPT without prior consent.

Originality.AI stated, "The number of sites blocking GPTBot increased by about 5 percentage points per week," adding, "The number of sites blocking GPTBot is steadily increasing."