Big Tech's AI Copyright Wins Could Reshape the Internet and Push Content Offline

Big Tech has scored significant victories in recent battles over data and copyright, with profound implications for business, publishing, and the future of the web. Two recent U.S. court rulings, one notably in favor of Anthropic’s use of millions of books for AI training, have shifted the legal landscape. These decisions suggest that all content published online may now be considered fair game for companies like Google, Meta, OpenAI, and Microsoft, which could potentially ingest text, images, and videos to power their AI tools without paying for them. This is a major win for Big Tech and the burgeoning AI economy. However, it poses substantial challenges to the web and the creators who contribute to its vibrancy. If AI models can rapidly repurpose vast amounts of digital content, the intrinsic value of individual pieces of writing and other forms of media could plummet. Currently, judges remain unconvinced by the U.S. Copyright Office's argument that this influx of AI-generated content undermines the market for original material, and the concept of fair use continues to shield the tech giants. Cloudflare, one of the web's largest network operators, is attempting to counter this trend by introducing a new tool designed to require AI companies to pay for web crawling. This shifts the paradigm from an opt-out system to an opt-in one. Several publishers, including The Atlantic, Ziff Davis, and Time, have already signed on to use this tool. These legal rulings could prompt a broader transformation in how creators share knowledge online. With the constraints on content scraping now relaxed, individuals and organizations might reconsider their digital strategies. Bloomberg, for instance, keeps its news stories within its secure Terminal service. Tech blogger Ben Thompson opts for newsletters and maintains a strict paywall. Microsoft’s new "Signal" magazine is available only in print. In an era where AI bots have free rein to roam and harvest online content, the most valuable ideas may migrate to less accessible platforms or go dark entirely. This could herald a new age of content scarcity, heightened privacy, and a potential resurgence of traditional print media. As the web faces this unprecedented shift, the balance between innovation and creator rights will be closely watched.