Interlink Declares Abolition of HTML for Humans, Switching to MD for AI—World's First (Internal Research) AI-First Website
Interlink launched an 'AI-First Website' that completely replaces traditional human-oriented HTML files with Markdown (.md) files optimized for AI agents, alongside machine-readable JSON APIs and llms.txt.
📋 Article Processing Timeline
- 📰 Published: April 1, 2026 at 09:00
- 🔍 Collected: April 1, 2026 at 01:00
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 22, 2026 at 21:46 (524h 45m after Collected)
Interlink Co., Ltd. (Toshima-ku, Tokyo, CEO: Tadashi Yokoyama, hereinafter 'Interlink'), which provides specialized (and somewhat quirky) services for advanced users (which few people use), launched its corporate website (https://www.interlink.or.jp/) on Wednesday, April 1, 2026, as an 'AI-First Website' optimized for AI. They have abolished the traditional HTML-based structure geared towards humans and deleted HTML files with very few exceptions. By migrating all pages to Markdown files (.md), they have realized a corporate site that is easy for generative AIs and AI agents to read directly.
[Background and Purpose]
In recent years, with the spread of ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, opportunities for users to entrust information gathering to AI have increased. In response to these changes, Interlink has fundamentally overhauled its entire corporate site into an information structure that can be accurately read by AI.
Interlink is an ISP that has been providing internet connection services since 1995. The company has continuously questioned industry norms, such as abolishing telephone support in 2006, closing its office to transition to a full-remote system in 2020, and introducing a four-day workweek. This new 'AI-First Website' is an extension of these challenges—a declaration that 'we have quit making human-centric websites.'
[Features of the AI-First Website]
In the AI-First Website launched this time, with the exception of a few forms and member-only pages, HTML files for all pages have been abolished, moving entirely to Markdown files (.md). Additionally, an 'llms.txt' guide file for AI agents has been set up, and a JSON API that provides service information in a machine-readable format is also open to the public. For humans, an MD viewer that formats and displays Markdown is provided in a single HTML file. When viewed through the MD viewer, it appears as shown below.
It was possible to make www.interlink.or.jp easy for humans to read by attaching the viewer by default. However, that is exactly 'for humans.' We have positioned the .md files, which AI reads by default, as the main axis, making the human viewer strictly an option.
Interlink believes that in the future, web browsers themselves will be equipped with a display function for .md files. When that happens, our top page will naturally become easy to read. In other words, when our website displays beautifully in a browser, that browser will be the hallmark of an .md-compatible browser.
Naturally, the significant drop in SEO rankings due to eliminating HTML files is an expected outcome.
[Background and Purpose]
In recent years, with the spread of ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, opportunities for users to entrust information gathering to AI have increased. In response to these changes, Interlink has fundamentally overhauled its entire corporate site into an information structure that can be accurately read by AI.
Interlink is an ISP that has been providing internet connection services since 1995. The company has continuously questioned industry norms, such as abolishing telephone support in 2006, closing its office to transition to a full-remote system in 2020, and introducing a four-day workweek. This new 'AI-First Website' is an extension of these challenges—a declaration that 'we have quit making human-centric websites.'
[Features of the AI-First Website]
In the AI-First Website launched this time, with the exception of a few forms and member-only pages, HTML files for all pages have been abolished, moving entirely to Markdown files (.md). Additionally, an 'llms.txt' guide file for AI agents has been set up, and a JSON API that provides service information in a machine-readable format is also open to the public. For humans, an MD viewer that formats and displays Markdown is provided in a single HTML file. When viewed through the MD viewer, it appears as shown below.
It was possible to make www.interlink.or.jp easy for humans to read by attaching the viewer by default. However, that is exactly 'for humans.' We have positioned the .md files, which AI reads by default, as the main axis, making the human viewer strictly an option.
Interlink believes that in the future, web browsers themselves will be equipped with a display function for .md files. When that happens, our top page will naturally become easy to read. In other words, when our website displays beautifully in a browser, that browser will be the hallmark of an .md-compatible browser.
Naturally, the significant drop in SEO rankings due to eliminating HTML files is an expected outcome.