Cloudflare Says Most Internet Traffic Is Now Automated
Cloudflare says automated bots and AI agents have overtaken human users in web traffic, raising new questions about how the internet will be funded and how online content is accessed.
Cloudflare has reported a major shift in internet traffic, with automated requests now accounting for more web activity than requests generated directly by humans. According to Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince, automated traffic overtook human traffic in May 2026, earlier than the company had previously expected. Cloudflare’s data indicated that almost 60% of requests to websites were coming from bots, highlighting the rapidly increasing role of AI systems and other automated software on the internet.
A significant portion of this automated activity is connected to artificial intelligence. AI crawlers can scan websites to collect information for search, model training and other applications, while newer AI agents can access online services on behalf of users. Cloudflare has divided these activities into three major categories — Search, Agent and Training — allowing website owners to decide which types of automated access they want to permit.
The change is creating concerns for publishers and other website owners whose businesses traditionally depend on human visitors. Human users can generate advertising revenue, subscriptions and other commercial activity, while automated systems can consume large amounts of online content without necessarily sending visitors back to the websites where the information originated. Prince has argued that AI companies should contribute financially when their systems rely heavily on online content.
Cloudflare has consequently introduced additional controls for website owners. From September 15, 2026, new domains using Cloudflare have Training and Agent bots blocked by default on pages displaying advertisements, while Search crawlers remain allowed. The company has also promoted systems such as Pay Per Crawl, which are intended to create ways for publishers to charge for automated access to their content.
Cloudflare’s CEO has warned that the gap could become much larger. Prince said the company now expects automated traffic to reach roughly 1,000 times the volume of human traffic within five years if current growth continues. Such a development could fundamentally change how websites are designed, monetised and accessed, making the relationship between publishers, AI companies and automated agents an increasingly important issue for the future of the internet.
