This acquisition positions Cloudflare to play a pivotal role in shaping an AI-powered Internet economy that values both innovation and creator rights, while providing the infrastructure needed to support responsible, transparent, and scalable AI data use.
Cloudflare, Inc. , a leading connectivity cloud company, has announced the acquisition of Human Native , an AI data marketplace designed to connect content creators with AI developers. The acquisition aims to simplify and accelerate the process for AI developers to discover and access high-quality content while enabling creators and publishers to optimize, price, and monetize their data. By integrating the expertise of the Human Native team, Cloudflare plans to advance its vision for an AI-driven Internet economy, empowering creators to transform existing content into valuable, indexable data for AI applications.
Access to high-quality content is essential for the growth and effectiveness of the AI industry. Content owners now face strategic choices: they can block AI from using their work, optimize content for AI consumption, or offer it for sale at a fair value. Cloudflare is positioning itself to support all these options, providing tools that allow creators to prepare content in ways that are discoverable, accessible, and monetizable by AI developers through transparent channels. Human Native’s technology will be central to building these tools.
Matthew Prince, co-founder and CEO of Cloudflare, highlighted that content creators should maintain full control over their work, whether aimed at human audiences or optimized for AI. He emphasized that the acquisition supports Cloudflare’s goal of establishing a sustainable economic model for the next phase of the Internet, enabling content to be discovered, priced, and purchased in a fair and transparent manner.
Founded in 2024, Human Native has focused on creating equitable and transparent relationships between content creators and AI companies. The company, backed by UK venture capital firms LocalGlobe and Mercuri, brings expertise from leading tech and media organizations, including DeepMind, Google, Figma, and Bloomberg. This experience is expected to help Cloudflare develop tools that allow creators to structure content for fair, streamlined AI consumption.
Dr. James Smith, co-founder and CEO of Human Native, stated that the company’s mission is to ensure creators receive proper control, credit, and compensation when their work is used by AI products. He expressed alignment with Cloudflare’s vision and emphasized the opportunity to scale solutions across the Internet. Investors also welcomed the acquisition: Ziv Reichert of LocalGlobe highlighted Human Native’s role in enabling AI teams to access valuable data while providing monetization opportunities for content owners, and Alan Hudson of Mercuri reinforced the company’s commitment to ethical, high-quality data and fair creator compensation.
This acquisition positions Cloudflare to play a pivotal role in shaping an AI-powered Internet economy that values both innovation and creator rights, while providing the infrastructure needed to support responsible, transparent, and scalable AI data use.
