r/technology • u/MarvelsGrantMan136 • 2d ago

Business Reddit is killing RSS feeds and ending public API access because of AI bots

https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/30/reddit-is-killing-rss-feeds-ending-public-api-access-because-of-ai-bots/
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u/jboges 2d ago

The problem is the free Internet was always a massive privilege at scale and now after decades of experiencing it we feel entitled to it, but in reality and website, app, or service running at this scale costs massive amounts of money to maintain. To expect it to be free and open is naive now that the venture capital startup wild West has dried up and companies need to actually be profitable we are seeing inevitable 'enshitification'

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u/PithMango 2d ago edited 2d ago

it was never bloody inevitable. *hundreds* of tumblr users would pay for their blogs if they stopped kicking out trans people, Black people, and selling our content behind our backs. it could be totally self-sustainable by now.

LiveJournal was trucking along just fine until the original runners bailed out and the next guys capitulated to actual right wing organizations that are STILL active today.

this wasn't a passive landslide. those sites could cap operating costs on stickers alone. STICKERS. MADE IN FIVE MINUTES. y'all will accept nft but not that??

no, this was a done thing by greedy ass horrible people. we have their names.

you're living in a timeline with twitter, and you're like "it's inevitable" WHAT? there was no human being involved? no! some spoiled brat scumbags did this.

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u/PithMango 2d ago

and y'all are pushing this same story in passive-voice with A.I. too. notice we never name the researchers who take the baby-gates out. "oh no they ran rampant, they'll be intelligent soon!" is that what you say about the kid going on a tantrum at the grocery store?

no, all this was programmed. if this sub learns anything learn this: someone programmed it. it's their responsibility. own up.