DreamHost Deploys AI Control Policies as Standards Race to Keep Up

DreamHost's unannounced deployment of agents.txt demonstrates how web hosting providers are becoming gatekeepers for AI access without industry consensus. As LLM training and retrieval-augmented generation become critical business concerns, retroactive policy changes risk fragmenting the ecosystem and confusing website owners. The incident reveals a critical gap: standards for AI agent controls remain incomplete even as providers rush to implement them.