The owner of Tumblr and WordPress is reportedly striking deals with AI companies OpenAI and Midjourney that would allow them to provide training data based on the users' posts.
The report came from an anonymous source familiar with the situation, citing that the discussion between Automattic and AI companies is "imminent."
Tumblr Might Give Options for Users to Opt Out Data Collection
Per a 404 report, Automattic is planning to offer an option to users not to participate in data sharing with third parties, such as AI companies. The company had reportedly collected an initial data dump spanning from 2014 to 2023 public posts.
As a response to the rumors, Automattic posted a blog update explaining the exponential rise of AI and the company's current policy about it.
"Like other tech companies, we're closely following these advancements, including how to work with AI companies in a way that respects our users' preferences," the company wrote.
Likewise, the company shared that it currently blocks by default major AI platform crawlers on Tumblr and WordPress. The company also emphasized its setting to discourage search engine indexing.
AI Companies Deal With Platforms to Gain Training Data
Although Automattic did not directly address the news, the company confirmed that it is working directly with select AI companies and is currently in the process of alignment priorities.
"...As long as their plans align with what our community cares about: attribution, opt-outs, and control. Our partnerships will respect all opt-out settings," the company explained.
Several companies have already struck deals with major AI companies. These deals will allow companies to collect publicly available online data and process them as training material for their AI models.
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