Mail publisher joins calls for PM to tackle threat to journalism from stealth bots

Publishers including the Daily Mail have urged Andy Burnham to crack down on anonymous AI 'stealth bots' that steal content from websites.

In a joint letter, they called on the Prime Minister to back a new law that would require online bots to identify who sent them and what they will do with the information they access.

Unless action is taken soon, the information industry will enter a 'doom loop' that threatens the future of news outlets and the AI giants that feed on them, the publishers warned.

'The case for transparency is clear,' they wrote. 'What is missing is a decision to act.

'If the creators of trusted information receive no value for it, the supply of reliable information will diminish, then disappear. Without a continuing supply of high-quality, accurate information, AI models will degrade as they consume increasing volumes of their own AI-generated misinformation.

'Much of the debate on AI fixates on distant, existential risks, but this harm is already here: unidentifiable bots are taking valuable content, imposing costs on businesses and weakening the market for trusted information.'

Signatories of the letter include Daily Mail CEO Danny Groom and executives from the Times, Financial Times, Telegraph, Sun, Express, Guardian, Conde Nast and internet discussion forum Reddit.

Bots now account for more than half of global web traffic, with most 'scraping' data that feeds artificial intelligence models.

At present, many are anonymous or pretend to be from trusted sources like Google. Others come disguised as everyday consumer devices, making their activity look like ordinary human traffic.

The information they scrape is usually sold to AI firms on the black market, meaning the content creators earn nothing.

The publishers warned that similar techniques may be exploited by hostile states to launch cyberattacks, risking national security.

A Bill put forward by Tory shadow minister Damian Hinds, which mirrors a similar one currently before the US Congress, has its second reading in the House of Commons today (FRI).

It proposes a new public register of bots to be held by online watchdog Ofcom that would allow publishers to decide whether to allow them into their websites.

Mr Hinds said: 'If someone can come along and just take something you've made, in time people will just stop producing those things.

'This Bill doesn't seek to ban anything, just to let content owners see who is taking their content, so they can decide if they're happy with that.'

Labour MP and House of Commons Technology Committee member Allison Gardner backed the Bill, saying: 'AI firms must be honest and transparent about how they access training data. Publishers deserve to be paid for their journalism, and high-quality, fact-checked information must be protected.'

Theo Bamber, chief executive of the News Media Association, added: 'The US is already moving, and Britain should lead alongside it.'

Last year, the Labour government proposed exempting AI firms from copyright law to boost Britain's technology sector, but faced fierce opposition from musicians including Sir Elton John, Sir Paul McCartney and Dua Lipa.