AI-scraping AO3 fanwork paid site shuts down after 2,000 takedown requests

ao3.life, a website that used AI Agents to scrape AO3 fanworks, re-upload them, and charge for access, shut down within one day of launching after receiving more than 2,000 takedown requests from authors. The site's operator, Ganesh, said the site used a group of AI Agents controlling 40 virtual machines to scrape works and offered EPUB reading versions and AI audiobooks; the first 3 minutes of the audiobooks were free, after which a fee was charged. The site had claimed that authors could receive a 91% revenue share, with the platform keeping 9% to cover "narration and processing" costs, and that authors needed to leave a comment on their AO3 profile page to verify their identity. Some authors said that even with archive lock enabled, their works were still scraped. The shutdown came after widespread opposition from readers and authors on social media. AO3 is expected to be down for up to four weeks due to a security incident.

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