Three Futures of an AI‑Powered Web: Creator Extinction, Oligarchs or Fair Play, According to Cloudflare

The Web Is Starving Its Creators

As artificial intelligence reshapes how we find and consume information, the fundamental economics of the internet are faltering. Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince has stepped into the fray with a stark warning: unless the web’s value exchange is rebalanced, we may be headed toward a digital dark age. In a recent interview, Prince outlined three distinct futures for how AI will influence the open internet—ranging from creative extinction to equitable compensation. The choices made today will determine who gets paid, who survives, and who controls knowledge in the AI era.

1. Content Without Creators: The Super‑Nihilistic Future

In the first scenario Prince describes, AI platforms consume the web’s content but send back almost nothing in return. This “super‑nihilistic” model envisions a future in which content creators—journalists, bloggers, researchers—stop producing because their work generates no revenue. Large language models and AI chatbots deliver answers pulled from a vast array of sources, yet fail to credit or redirect users to the originators.

Prince puts it plainly: creators “starve to death” in a system where AI eats content for free and offers no pathway to economic sustainability. This future is not hypothetical. Cloudflare’s internal metrics show that AI bots generate up to 750 times fewer referrals than traditional search engines. Some, like Anthropic’s Claude, send 37,000 times fewer clicks than Google. With no viable way to monetize traffic, the creative backbone of the web collapses.

2. The AI Oligarchy: Power Concentrated in the Few

The second possibility is no less troubling. Rather than creators disappearing entirely, a handful of dominant AI companies could gain control of content access through exclusive licensing deals. Only the largest platforms—backed by deep pockets and enormous computing resources—would be able to afford access to the best data.

In this model, the web becomes gated. Content creators might get paid, but the cost is a loss of openness, diversity, and accessibility. Smaller AI developers would be locked out of the training ecosystem, stifling innovation and reinforcing monopolies. The knowledge economy would be centralized in a few hands, reminiscent of how a few record labels once controlled the music industry.

3. A Fair System: Compensation for Contribution

But Prince also proposes a hopeful third future: one where the internet functions like Spotify for content. Just as musicians are paid each time their songs are streamed, creators could be compensated every time AI systems use their content. This approach wouldn’t require the entire web to become a patchwork of paywalls—it would, however, require systemic change.

This is the future Cloudflare is actively working to support. The company recently launched a feature called “Pay‑Per‑Crawl,” allowing website owners to charge AI bots for access. Based on the HTTP 402 code—originally designed for “Payment Required” but rarely used—it introduces a way for machines to settle debts for content they consume. This gives content producers the power to either block or monetize the crawling of their data.

In tandem, Cloudflare has made a major architectural shift: bots are now blocked by default unless granted explicit permission. This reverses the longstanding norm of open access and puts control back in the hands of publishers. It also incentivizes AI firms to negotiate rather than extract.

Why the Web’s Business Model Is Cracking

The collapse of the traditional web economy has been a slow burn. A decade ago, for every two pages Google indexed, it sent one user back to the site—a 2:1 ratio. Today, that ratio is closer to 18:1. For AI systems like OpenAI, it’s reportedly 1,500:1. For Claude, it’s as high as 60,000:1.

This reflects a fundamental breakdown in the relationship between creators and platforms. Search engines, despite their flaws, at least sustained a referral economy. AI, with its answer-driven interface, decouples consumption from source. The user never clicks the link; they get the answer and move on. Without reform, creators become invisible inputs to a system that thrives while they starve.

What’s at Stake: The Soul of the Internet

This isn’t just about writers getting paid. It’s about the long-term viability of the internet as a place for diverse, high-quality content. If no one has a reason to create, the web’s richness disappears. What replaces it may be cheaper, faster, and generated by AI—but also shallower and less trustworthy.

Cloudflare’s push for a “permissioned web” and a monetized crawling model is an attempt to rebuild the economic bridge between human creators and machine consumers. Whether this becomes the new norm depends on whether AI developers choose to play fair—or continue to extract without giving back.

The Path Forward: Choose Your Internet

Prince’s vision is not a prophecy—it’s a warning. The internet, as it currently stands, cannot withstand the unchecked rise of answer engines. Without a new framework, the open web may split into walled gardens, suffer a creative drought, or collapse under its own economic contradictions.

Yet there is still time to choose. If platforms, creators, and users align around the idea that value should flow both ways, then the web—and those who make it—can thrive in the AI age.