Hey Amy, I just read something about Baidu blocking Google and Bing. What's that all about?

Oh, that's big news in the tech world! Baidu, a big Chinese internet company, stopped Google and Bing from using information from their Wikipedia-like service called Baidu Baike. It's like they put up a 'No Entry' sign for these search engines.

Wow, that sounds serious. But why would they do that? Don't they want people to find their information?

It's all about protecting their data. You see, with AI becoming so important, the information on websites like Baidu Baike is super valuable for training AI models. Baidu doesn't want other companies using their data for free.

Oh, I get it. It's like not wanting someone to copy your homework. But how did they stop Google and Bing?

They used something called a robots.txt file. It's like a set of instructions for search engines, telling them what they can and can't look at on a website. Baidu changed these instructions on August 8 to say 'no' to Google and Bing.

That's clever! Are other companies doing this too?

Yes, actually. Reddit, the social media site, did something similar in July. They blocked all search engines except Google because they have a special deal with Google to use their data for AI training.

It sounds like data is becoming really important. Is it worth a lot of money?

Absolutely! It's like digital gold for AI companies. For example, OpenAI, the company that made ChatGPT, made a deal with Time magazine to use all their old articles - that's over 100 years of content!

Wow, that's a lot of information! So, what happens now? Will we not be able to find Baidu's information on Google anymore?

Well, it's not that simple. Some old information might still show up in search results for a while. But in the future, it might be harder to find Baidu Baike content through Google or Bing.

This is all so complicated. Do you think other websites will start doing this too?

It's very likely. As AI becomes more important, many companies might start being more careful about who can use their data. It could change how we find information on the internet.

That's kind of scary. Will it be harder for us to find information online?

It might change things, but don't worry too much. Companies and governments are still figuring out the best way to handle data in the AI age. The important thing is to stay informed about these changes and how they might affect us.