--- title: Can Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince save the web from AI? description: Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince discusses how automated bot and AI agent traffic has surpassed human traffic online, and how Cloudflare is trying to build a new... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/can-cloudflare-ceo-matthew-prince-save-the-web-from-ai--sv7boqmwr twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Can Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince save the web from AI? | daily.dev og:description: Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince discusses how automated bot and AI agent traffic has surpassed human traffic online, and how Cloudflare is trying to build a new... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/can-cloudflare-ceo-matthew-prince-save-the-web-from-ai--sv7boqmwr og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/sV7BOqMWr.png og:image:alt: Can Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince save the web from AI? og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Can Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince save the web from AI? **[The Verge](https://daily.dev/sources/theverge)** · 72 min read · 1 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince discusses how automated bot and AI agent traffic has surpassed human traffic online, and how Cloudflare is trying to build a new business model where AI companies pay publishers for content access rather than relying on advertising. He describes plans with Stripe and Coinbase for micropayment schemes (invoking HTTP 402), Cloudflare's decision to block Google's AI crawlers by default unless publishers opt out, and draws parallels to how Spotify transformed the music industry's economics. He argues the shift could reward unique, local, and original content creation over rage-bait media, while acknowledging unresolved tensions around fairness, recognition for creators, and whether the new incentive structure is actually good for the web. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### Is Cloudflare blocking Google's AI crawlers by default now? Yes, as of September 15th, Cloudflare set defaults across all free customers so that Google's crawler is blocked for AI training purposes; if Google won't differentiate between AI training and search engine crawling, Cloudflare blocks it across the board. Site owners can turn this default off if they want Google's crawlers to have access. _Publishers weighing crawler access controls can follow developments like this on daily.dev._ ### What percentage of internet traffic is bots versus humans according to Cloudflare's data? Automated traffic passed human traffic online around May, months ahead of earlier projections that placed the crossover in 2027. Cloudflare had initially forecast the second half of 2027 for this crossover, then revised it to the first half of 2027, before finding automated traffic already exceeded human traffic. Cloudflare projects automated traffic could reach 1,000 times human traffic within five years. _Track how bot-versus-human traffic trends reshape infrastructure costs by following coverage on daily.dev._ ### What is the HTTP 402 status code and how does it relate to paid content access for AI crawlers? HTTP 402 is 'Payment Required,' a status code written into the earliest version of Netscape but never widely implemented. Cloudflare, working with companies like Coinbase and Stripe, is reviving this concept so that website owners can charge AI bots a fraction of a penny per access, funding infrastructure costs since bots don't respond to advertising the way human visitors do. _Developers building pay-per-crawl or bot-monetization systems can follow related infrastructure news on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince is pushing UK regulator to unbundle Google’s search and AI crawlers](https://daily.dev/posts/cloudflare-ceo-matthew-prince-is-pushing-uk-regulator-to-unbundle-google-s-search-and-ai-crawlers-cp9lbv0k3) · TechCrunch · 2 upvotes · 0 comments - [Cloudflare wants to build the economic layer of the AI web](https://daily.dev/posts/cloudflare-wants-to-build-the-economic-layer-of-the-ai-web-i5ywynw2y) · The New Stack · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Cloudflare gives AI crawlers a September deadline to pay up](https://daily.dev/posts/cloudflare-gives-ai-crawlers-a-september-deadline-to-pay-up-s5ncxffs7) · The Next Web · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Making AI search smarter](https://daily.dev/posts/making-ai-search-smarter-vdumwudvn) · Cloudflare · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#google](https://daily.dev/tags/google), [#cloudflare](https://daily.dev/tags/cloudflare) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/can-cloudflare-ceo-matthew-prince-save-the-web-from-ai--sv7boqmwr) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Can Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince save the web from AI?","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/can-cloudflare-ceo-matthew-prince-save-the-web-from-ai--sv7boqmwr","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/can-cloudflare-ceo-matthew-prince-save-the-web-from-ai--sv7boqmwr"},"datePublished":"2026-09-26T14:06:23.156Z","dateModified":"2026-09-26T15:08:39.281Z","description":"Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince discusses how automated bot and AI agent traffic has surpassed human traffic online, and how Cloudflare is trying to build a new...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/26069c5427b6cc4cc2d17b3fbe87045e?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/26069c5427b6cc4cc2d17b3fbe87045e?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"The Verge","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"The Verge","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1/logos/eacb57b3570d4f04b1f0dc8f834d8135","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/theverge"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/can-cloudflare-ceo-matthew-prince-save-the-web-from-ai--sv7boqmwr","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":1},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"google,cloudflare","timeRequired":"PT72M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Verge","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/theverge"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Can Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince save the web from AI?"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/can-cloudflare-ceo-matthew-prince-save-the-web-from-ai--sv7boqmwr#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"Is Cloudflare blocking Google's AI crawlers by default now?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Yes, as of September 15th, Cloudflare set defaults across all free customers so that Google's crawler is blocked for AI training purposes; if Google won't differentiate between AI training and search engine crawling, Cloudflare blocks it across the board. 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