Major publishers push for AI regulation as bot scraping threatens revenue

Iconic publications such as Esquire, Cosmopolitan, and Vogue are lobbying Congress to pass the Stealth Bot Prohibition Act, a bipartisan bill aimed at banning 'stealth bots' that scrape website content without disclosure. The legislation, introduced in July, would require bot scrapers to identify themselves and face civil penalties if they fail to do so. The News/Media Alliance, a trade nonprofit, supports the bill to address the growing threat of AI to publishers' revenue and visibility. Industry leaders like Roger Lynch of Condé Nast and Debi Chirichella of Hearst Magazines argue that AI companies are using disguised bots to steal journalism without accountability. While some publishers are pushing for regulation, others have negotiated licensing deals with AI firms. For instance, Condé Nast partnered with OpenAI in 2024, and the Associated Press signed a deal with Google in January 2025. Meta and Amazon have also entered agreements with major publishers, including CNN, Fox News, and the New York Times. Ziff Davis, Mashable's parent company, filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in April 2025, alleging copyright infringement. Despite concerns about AI's impact on the industry, many publishers are finding ways to profit from their content being used for AI training and search.