Connectivity cloud company Cloudflare, Inc. has expanded Project Galileo to help non-profits and independent journalists protect their websites from unwanted AI crawlers for free.
Project participants, including 750 journalists, independent news organisations, and other non-profit organisations supporting news gathering around the world, will gain access to Cloudflare's Bot Management and AI Crawl Control services.
"I believe in journalism, and I believe that the health of local, independent news is essential for a healthy Internet and a healthy society," said Matthew Prince, co-founder and CEO of Cloudflare. "When we started Project Galileo, we wanted to help stop cyberattacks from suppressing the online voices of journalists and human rights workers. Now, that vision is expanding, and we want to ensure the evolution of AI works in their favour, not against it."
Project Galileo
People searching for information are becoming less likely to visit the actual websites where the information originated, as AI models already provide it to them, thereby threatening news organisations' ability to stay afloat, as well as communities losing their local news sources.
Cloudflare is empowering non-profits and journalists in their battle against AI crawlers. The company provides free tools to control and monitor how AI crawlers access content on their websites. This commitment extends to expanding access to AI tools for non-profits and public interest organisations, enabling them to modernise their use and development of AI to support their missions.
"Independent media's ability to fulfil its democratic function by gathering news and distributing trusted information depends on generating revenues free from political or business influence," said Ryan Powell, head of Innovation and Media Business at International Press Institute. "By monitoring and monetising the crawling of publishers' sites, media can protect their intellectual property while developing new revenue streams to support their quality journalism."
