Cloudflare implements default block on AI crawlers
Cloudflare just made a big move to help protect online content—by blocking known AI web crawlers automatically for new websites.
Major publishers like The Associated Press and Stack Overflow are included, so their articles can't be scraped by AI bots without permission.
New users now have to choose if they want to allow AI crawling, and Cloudflare's "Pay Per Crawl" lets sites charge for access.
Creators can now control who uses their content
With more people using AI chatbots, creators worry about their work being used without credit or payment.
Cloudflare's update puts control back in the hands of site owners—they get to decide who can use their content and how.
It's a win for anyone making original stuff online, making sure that if AI companies want in, they have to ask (and maybe pay) first.
How Cloudflare is enforcing the rules
Cloudflare isn't just relying on old rules anymore—they're blocking all known AI crawlers, even if those bots don't follow standard web guidelines.
They've even built tools like "AI Labyrinth" to trap sneaky scrapers trying to grab content without consent.