\u201cPatreon has partnered with an internet infrastructure company called Cloudflare to block Al training crawlers from using the work you publish on your Patreon to train their Al models,\u201d Conte wrote. \u201cThis is live and happening at the network level on all posts published on Patreon.\u201d<\/p>\n
“As AI agents become increasingly powerful and popular, creators deserve a meaningful say in how their work is used by AI companies. On most of the Internet, creators have to accept AI training on their work just to reach and grow an audience,” Drew Rowny, SVP of Product at Patreon, said in a press release published by Cloudflare last week<\/a>. “Patreon has a different vision: creators should be able to grow their audience and control how their work is used. That’s why we’re building on our existing work with Cloudflare to block known AI training crawlers at the network level across Patreon, while still allowing the crawlers that help creators get discovered and grow their businesses through search.” <\/p>\n Last year, internet infrastructure company Cloudflare, which provides cybersecurity protection and content delivery services to websites, announced that it would start blocking AI crawlers from accessing content without website owners\u2019 permission or compensation by default. And earlier this month, Cloudflare announced new options for website owners to control AI traffic based on whether bots are search, agent, or training crawlers. In September, according to the company\u2019s blog<\/a>, all new domains onboarding to Cloudflare will have training and agent bots blocked by default on pages that display ads, while search crawlers will remain allowed by default.<\/p>\n \u201cCreators deserve credit, compensation, and consent. If that’s not on the table, the crawlers can stay the fuck off Patreon. The free internet is alive and happening. The rebellion has already started,\u201d Conte wrote in his post.\u00a0<\/p>\n In May, Conte posted a 43-minute video <\/a>addressing how the AI industry fails to compensate creators. \u201cCreators deserve consent, credit and compensation,\u201d Conte said<\/a> in the video. \u201cConsent meaning, \u2018Do I get to opt out of my work being used by these models as training data?\u2019 Credit meaning, \u2018If my work is used and you just replicate my whole vibe as an artist\u2026 do I get credit for that?\u2019 And then compensation, meaning, \u2018Do I get paid when that happens?\u2019 Unfortunately, the answer to all three of these questions right now is a big fat \u2018No.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n AI-generated works are permitted on Patreon, as long as they comply with the platform’s terms of use. In 2024, 404 Media reported<\/a> that many creators of nonconsensual sexual images and videos monetized their content on Patreon. Last year<\/a>, Patreon updated its content guidelines for AI content to state: \u201cAI-generated depictions of people that are illustrated\/animated are permitted; AI-generated hyperrealistic depictions of people are permitted only if the people are real and have documented their explicit consent.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Cloudflare did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n Updated 7\/9 at 7:59 p.m. EDT to include Drew Rowny’s statement.<\/p>\n About the author<\/p>\n Sam Cole is writing from the far reaches of the internet, about sexuality, the adult industry, online culture, and AI. She’s the author of How Sex Changed the Internet and the Internet Changed Sex.<\/p>\n ![\"Samantha](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/404-sam-10--1-.jpg\")
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