# Cloudflare CEO says bots now make up over half of web traffic

> Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince told The Verge's Decoder that bots passed half of internet traffic, as the company sells site owners controls to block, allow, or charge AI agents.

- **Topic**: Industry
- **Published**: 2026-09-27T08:36:17.348Z
- **Canonical URL**: https://highsignal.sh/stories/cloudflare-ceo-says-bots-now-make-up-over-half-of-web-traffic-f95c27e1

## Why It Matters

Cloudflare sits between websites and the AI agents scraping and acting on them, so its access rules are becoming a practical lever over what AI companies can read and pay for.

## Key Findings & Analysis

### What Prince said

- Cloudflare, which Prince describes as a network spanning more than 350 cities, found in June that bots made up more than half of internet traffic, and Prince told The Verge's Decoder that the share keeps rising as AI companies scrape more of the web and AI agents act on people's behalf. (The Verge (AI), Decoder interview with Matthew Prince.) — This is Cloudflare's own measurement, as relayed in the interview, not an independent audit.

### The controls Cloudflare is selling

- Prince said Cloudflare sits between websites and those agents and gives owners a choice: block all AI tools, allow them, or allow only tools that pay for access. (The Verge (AI).) — The interview describes payment schemes as still coming into focus.

### Why it matters

- Because Cloudflare is an intermediary for a large share of the web, its allow/block/charge settings shape both how much AI training and agent traffic reaches publishers and what those publishers might be paid. (The Verge (AI).) — Publishers' leverage and the value of different kinds of information are discussed in the interview as open questions, not settled outcomes.

## Primary Sources & Citations

- [Can Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince save the web from AI?](https://www.theverge.com/podcast/1000344/cloudflare-matthew-prince-google-zero-ai-web-advertising) — *The Verge (AI)* (Reporting)

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