Automattic—Automattic reportedly sold Tumblr and WordPress.com user data to Midjourney and OpenAI for AI training
In early 2024, reports revealed that Automattic had sold or licensed user-generated content from Tumblr and WordPress.com to AI companies including Midjourney and OpenAI for AI model training. Users were not individually notified or given prior opt-out options. A data export tool was later provided, but critics argued it was insufficient given the retroactive nature of the data sharing.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intellectual Property Ethics | -against | secondary | -0.50 |
| User Privacy | -against | primary | -1.00 |
| Overall incident score = | -0.643 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (high ×1.5) × confidence (0.57)
Evidence (1 signal)
404 Media report on Tumblr and WordPress.com user data being sold to AI companies
404 Media reported that Automattic had been in negotiations to sell user-generated content from Tumblr and WordPress.com to Midjourney and OpenAI for AI training purposes, with users not given advance notice.