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The voluntary approach would let website owners communicate one preference to multiple participating providers. OpenAI’s existing crawler controls will remain in place.
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The practical value of OpenAI’s planned support depends on whether other AI providers adopt the same website preference: a shared signal could let publishers state once that their content should not be used for foundational model training. OpenAI says its current crawler controls will remain available, so the signal adds a cross-provider option rather than replacing existing rules. It is voluntary, and OpenAI has not yet provided implementation details; website operators should watch for its promised update.
OpenAI announced its commitment on October 30, 2026, with implementation planned for the coming months.
The preference is placed in robots.txt and concerns training underlying generative AI models, not every possible use of website content.
OpenAI says the shared signal is voluntary and encouraged other providers to honor it.
OpenAI committed on October 30, 2026, to honoring a shared website signal for AI-training preferences, aiming to reduce the work of setting separate rules for different providers. The company plans to implement it in the coming months—not immediately—while keeping its existing controls for website owners in place alongside the new signal.
The signal belongs in robots.txt, the file websites use to communicate preferences about how their content is used. Here, the choice concerns foundational generative AI training: using website content to train the underlying models. OpenAI’s commitment is specifically about respecting that training preference.
Website operators have previously had to identify individual crawlers and maintain separate rules for each provider. A publisher could communicate its choice to multiple participating providers at once, rather than addressing each one separately.
OpenAI describes the effort as voluntary. Its stated benefit is simpler communication across participating companies, not a requirement that every AI provider follow the signal. The company encouraged other providers to honor it, making participation an important boundary around the promised reduction in administrative work.
This new signal will not replace the controls we already provide through robots.txt.
OpenAI, October 30 announcement
OpenAI says its existing crawler controls will continue to apply and be respected.
The effort draws on work by the Internet Engineering Task Force’s AI Preferences working group. OpenAI says it is joining other working-group participants in the shared-signal announcement and will continue participating in standards discussions, adapting its practices as those conversations evolve.
For website operators, the next concrete step is OpenAI’s promised implementation update. The company says that update will provide details when it puts the signal into effect.
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