GoKawiilAnubis anti-scraper tool highlights AI industry's 'do as I say' hypocrisy on scraping
The article's page itself was blocked by Anubis, a proof-of-work tool websites deploy to deter aggressive AI scraping bots, illustrating the very problem the piece discusses. Anubis forces browsers to solve a computational puzzle before loading content, adding negligible friction for humans but real cost for mass scrapers.
GoKawiil's interpretation of the reporting above, not reported fact.
AI companies publicly call for caution on AI development while their own scraping bots overwhelm websites, forcing site owners to adopt defensive tools like Anubis that can degrade access for everyone. This reflects a broader tension between AI firms' rhetoric about responsible development and their unrestrained data-harvesting practices that strain the open web's infrastructure.
- Anubis uses a Hashcash-style proof-of-work challenge to make mass AI scraping computationally expensive.
- The tool can inadvertently cause downtime or access issues for legitimate human visitors.
- It's a stopgap measure while better methods for detecting headless scraper browsers are developed.
Source: xeiaso.net, 2026-09-13
Published there as: “Everyone should slow down AI development except for me”
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