Popular services like Meta’s Muse, OpenAI’s Dots, and Instinct’s AI agents are facing blocks from websites. Yelp, Delta Air Lines, JPMorgan Chase, and Charles Schwab are among those restricting access, citing security concerns. Amazon too has banned Perplexity’s agent, raising legal and practical questions.

Despite these obstacles, OpenAI, Meta, and Google continue to roll out their AI agents. However, they too encounter anti-bot systems and legal battles. The Verge reports that Cloudflare has introduced measures to block AI crawlers, exacerbating the issue.

“Does this impact the perceived value of the Anthropics and the OpenAIs? I would say absolutely,” says Chris Canal, CEO of the AI safety evaluator EquiStamp. “If companies are actively working to make these agents less useful, there are just fewer things they can do online.”

Meta and Shopify have partnered to allow Muse to shop on certain sites, while others like Walmart have joined the effort. However, this leaves many AI agents in a holding pattern, unable to fully access the internet as envisioned.

The web may become less convenient as more sites implement anti-bot measures. Ultimately, these blocks could make the internet more annoying for users, as they navigate interfaces designed to confirm their humanity.