Artificial Intelligence (AI) companies need massive datasets to train their models. To meet this demand, many startups are aggressively scraping data, bypassing internet protocols like robots.txt files. Fitness and social running platform Strava has announced strict measures to combat this issue. This is reported by Techcrunch.com reporting .
The company has tightened its website security, now requiring users to be logged in to view information such as public profiles and club lists. Previously, this data was open, but it has been moved behind authentication to protect against unauthorized AI scraping. Additionally, Strava has made API access for developers a paid service, setting a fee of $11.99 per month.
In an interview with TechCrunch, Strava CEO Michael Martin emphasized that uncontrolled AI scraping could lead to the degradation of the open internet. According to him, AI companies are slowing down site performance in their quest for data and are even attempting to access the system in violation of API terms. Martin specifically accused the startup Perplexity of secretly collecting data through various services despite bans.
The company plans to close some API endpoints and implement the Model Context Protocol (MCP) standard. This will allow Strava to better control how data is shared. Although these changes have been met with criticism from third-party app developers, the company considers protecting user data and organizing its resources ahead of its IPO a top priority.
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