Artists hail A.I. bot blocker that could finally stop Silicon Valley giants 'stealing' their work

The UK's world-leading creative industries have been given a fresh boost in their fight to stop Big Tech companies'stealing' their work. US-based computer services and cyber security firm Cloudflare has introduced a tool which blocks Silicon Valley giants from mining creative works for free. Titans of entertainment, including Sir Elton John, Lord Lloyd-Webber and Dua Lipa, have been locked in a battle with ministers as artists demand better protection from the bots. The Government last month defeated an amendment to the Data (Use and Access) Bill by Baroness Kidron, director of Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason, after weeks of ping-pong between the Commons and the crossbench peer's growing number of supporters in the Lords. But Cloudflare's latest innovation will give publishers and website owners greater control over their intellectual property, allowing them to choose whether they want AI companies to access their content.