Company
Date Published
Author
Natalie Griffeth
Word count
719
Language
English
Hacker News points
None

Summary

Wikipedia has issued a statement urging AI companies to use their paid API rather than freely scraping their content, as unregulated scraping is impacting their revenue and server strain, while also reducing website traffic and community edits. This decline in traffic is attributed to AI overviews, which lead users to bypass Wikipedia, resulting in fewer visitors and editors, threatening the sustainability of the platform. Wikipedia's call to action underscores the necessity for proper attribution and financial support through their Wikimedia Enterprise platform, a paid solution that allows for scalable and responsible content use. This situation reflects a broader trend where organizations are increasingly implementing bot management strategies to mitigate the strain on infrastructure caused by AI bots, which can reach significant traffic levels. The pushback against unauthorized content scraping is gaining momentum, as companies recognize the importance of protecting their intellectual property and infrastructure, with Wikipedia setting an example for other publishers facing similar challenges.