The hunger for AI data feeds an opaque proxy ecosystem

Artificial intelligence (AI) companies are quietly driving demand for networks of co-opted consumer devices as they seek to avoid gridlock while gathering new data to train their models, recent research shows.

The investigation comes after Google’s Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG) highlighted the problem last month when it took down the infrastructure of IPIDEA, a Chinese provider considered one of the largest private proxy networks in the world.

A residential proxy routes Internet traffic over a true home or small business Internet connection.

This has the effect…