
Age-Gating the Internet + Cloudflare Takes On A.I. Scrapers + HatGPT
About this episode
This week, we look at the fallout from a sweeping internet age-verification law that went into effect in Britain. We explain why age restrictions are suddenly popping up all over the internet — and how some might create more problems than they solve. Then Matthew Prince, chief executive of Cloudflare, returns to the show to discuss his company’s new plan to help publishers fight back against A.I. scrapers and potentially to create a new online marketplace for quality content in the process. Finally, we round up some headlines from around the tech world in the latest round of HatGPT.
Guests:
- Matthew Prince, chief executive of Cloudflare
Additional Reading:
- Supreme Court Upholds Texas Law Limiting Access to Pornography
- The U.K.’s age gates are coming to America
- Cloudflare Introduces Default Blocking of A.I. Data Scrapers
Also, you can still get a special-edition “Hard Fork” hat! For a limited time, you’ll receive one when you purchase an annual New York Times Audio subscription for the first time (U.S. only). Go to nytimes.com/hardforkhat.
We want to hear from you. Email us at [email protected]. Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube and TikTok.
Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Get every episode summarized
Each time Hard Fork publishes, we email you a written briefing from the transcript — the topics, who appeared, and any specific claims, with the ad reads skipped.
Email me new episodesFree for 3 shows. No card needed.
Hosts & guests
No transcript yet
This episode has not been transcribed. Request it and it moves to the front of the queue.
More episodes
More from Hard Fork

The Ezra Klein Show: The A.I. Revolt Is Here
Hard Fork

The A.I. Mob That Attacked Hugging Face + METR’s Ajeya Cotra
Hard Fork

Meta Shifts the Blame + Do Data Center Bans Work? + The Final HatGPT
Hard Fork

OpenAI’s Two-Week Pause + Jill Lepore on the Threat of the “Artificial State” +...
Hard Fork