Meta drops terms that could have allowed AI training on scraped sites

After backlash, Meta removed language from its commercial terms saying it could use content from domains and URLs tied to its business customers to develop and train its AI products. Legal experts had read the terms, due to take effect October 30, as possibly overriding robots.txt blocks. Meta says the terms did not change how it crawls the web.

Why it matters: The episode shows how contract terms, not only crawlers, are becoming a route to training data. Publishers are already tightening access, as seen in sites blocking AI agents. Expect closer scrutiny of platform terms from publishers and regulators.