Automattic is working on a business deal with Midjourney and OpenAI and has already prepared an initial batch of content to feed their models. An unnamed internal...
The insider said that Automattic plans to provide full opt-out rights to users interested in protecting their public data, including posts and pictures. However, internal posts indicate that Tumblr has already provided Midjourney and OpenAI an "initial data dump" of all publicly posted content between 2014 and 2023. Furthermore, a "mistake" caused Automattic to share private data of Tumblr users with the two AI companies as well.
The service is being paid for - lemmy.world has details on how people can donate in the sidebar, as do many other instances. The relatively modest costs and the non-profit nature of the service mean that it doesn't require every single user to pay but someone is paying for this service (on smaller instances it may just be the Admin).
Believe it or not, people can do things for free without being driven by capitalism.
We give out time for free but there are costs involved. The Fediverse would be in a stringer position if those using and enjoying the service, and who can afford it, chipped in a little. It need only be £1/$1/€1 a month but that adds up.