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As big Language models powering generative AI tools are ingesting more data across the web. Cloudflare One of the founders of and CEO Matthew Prince The internet infrastructure company has blocked more than 400 billion requests for its customers’ AI bots since July 1, WIRED said at its Big Interview event in San Francisco on Thursday.
This action comes after the company announced Content Independence Day in July initiative With major publishers and AI companies to block AI crawlers by default on content creators’ work unless the AI companies pay for access. Since July 2024, Cloudflare has provided customers with tools to do this roadblock Artificial intelligence bots from deleting their content. Cloudflare told WIRED that the number of AI bots banned since July 1, 2025 stands at 416 billion.
“The business model of the Internet has always been to create content that drives traffic (to a website) and then sell things or subscriptions or ads,” Prince told WIRED executive editor Brian Barrett. “However, I think what people don’t realize is that AI represents a platform shift. The business model of the Internet is about to change dramatically. I don’t know what it’s going to change to, but that’s what I spend almost every waking hour thinking about.”
As a company, Cloudflare’s offerings aim to make accessing online content faster and more secure. But as the AI industry explodes and AI giants emerge, Prince says he has become increasingly focused on how Cloudflare can leverage its position to discourage consolidation and protect the internet as a place where companies and creators of every size can survive — or, ideally, thrive.
“We need to be able to make sure that businesses large and small thrive on fair ground,” Prince said. “This is the future we’re trying to play for. This is the best thing for our business, because it means more people are our customers. It means more of the Internet that we can protect.”
Prince specifically highlighted concerns regarding Google’s policies regarding search crawlers and artificial intelligence. As a major AI player vying for dominance, Google has combined its search and AI crawlers into one tool, so blocking its AI scraping tool also blocks the site’s ability to be indexed in Google search. The move has put creators in a bind, as they don’t want AI models training their creations, but they typically need their place in Google search to help audiences find their material.
“You can’t withdraw from one without withdrawing from both, which is really challenging, it’s crazy,” Prince said. “You should not be able to use your monopoly position yesterday in order to benefit from your monopoly position in tomorrow’s market.”