Anubis Deploys Proof-of-Work Challenge to Curb AI Scraping, Raising Costs for Mass Bots
Updated
Updated · MR Online · Aug 11
Anubis Deploys Proof-of-Work Challenge to Curb AI Scraping, Raising Costs for Mass Bots
1 articles · Updated · MR Online · Aug 11
Summary
Anubis now presents a proof-of-work page to visitors, aiming to shield websites from aggressive AI scraping that administrators say can trigger downtime and block access for regular users.
The system borrows from Hashcash-style anti-spam design: a small computational cost is negligible for individual users but scales into a meaningful expense for high-volume scrapers.
Anubis describes the challenge as a temporary compromise while developers work on browser fingerprinting—such as font-rendering checks—to identify headless bots and spare likely legitimate users.
Modern JavaScript is required to pass the check, and the notice warns that privacy tools such as JShelter may disable needed features, forcing users to turn them off for the site.