Web publishers can choose to opt-out of Google Bard, Vertex AI, and future AI models

Google has unveiled a new tool named Google-Extended, aimed at web publishers. This tool allows them to decide whether their sites will contribute to the enhancement of Bard and Vertex AI generative APIs, which also includes future models that power these products.

Google-Extended, accessible via robots.txt, offers web administrators the ability to influence the accuracy and capabilities of these AI models over time, by controlling access to their site's content. The implementation of such controls is a crucial part of ensuring transparency and control.

Robots.txt, a text file recognized by web crawlers, is the medium through which Google-Extended is offered. As AI applications continue to evolve, Google has stated its intention to further investigate machine-readable approaches for web publisher choice and control, promising more updates on this in the near future.

It is worth noting that several sites have already taken steps to block OpenAI's web crawler, which it employs to gather data and train ChatGPT. However, there has been ongoing uncertainty about how to effectively block Google. The introduction of Google-Extended could potentially address these concerns.