I think lying is a bit strong, I think they're potentially incorrect at worst.
The Cloudflare blog post where they announced this a few weeks ago stated "Cloudflare, Inc. (NYSE: NET), the leading connectivity cloud company, today announced it is now the first Internet infrastructure provider to block AI crawlers accessing content without permission or compensation, by default." [1]
I was also a bit confused by this wording and took it to mean Cloudflare was blocking AI traffic by default. What does it mean exactly?
Third party folks seemingly also interpreted it in the same way, eg The Verge reporting it with the title "Cloudflare will now block AI crawlers by default" [2]
I think what it actually means is that they'll offer new folks a default-enabled option to block ai traffic, so existing folks won't see any change. That aligns with text deeper in their blog post:
> Upon sign-up with Cloudflare, every new domain will now be asked if they want to allow AI crawlers, giving customers the choice upfront to explicitly allow or deny AI crawlers access. This significant shift means that every new domain starts with the default of control, and eliminates the need for webpage owners to manually configure their settings to opt out. Customers can easily check their settings and enable crawling at any time if they want their content to be freely accessed.
Not sure what this looks like in practice, or whether existing customers will be notified of the new option or something. But I also wouldn't fault someone for misinterpreting the headlines; they were a bit misleading.
We are in agreement; I just think saying "lying" implies a level malintent that isn't present -- it's rather overly ungenerous. The poster is at worst incorrect. And their misconception is understandable given the company's own confusing marketing.
The Cloudflare blog post where they announced this a few weeks ago stated "Cloudflare, Inc. (NYSE: NET), the leading connectivity cloud company, today announced it is now the first Internet infrastructure provider to block AI crawlers accessing content without permission or compensation, by default." [1]
I was also a bit confused by this wording and took it to mean Cloudflare was blocking AI traffic by default. What does it mean exactly?
Third party folks seemingly also interpreted it in the same way, eg The Verge reporting it with the title "Cloudflare will now block AI crawlers by default" [2]
I think what it actually means is that they'll offer new folks a default-enabled option to block ai traffic, so existing folks won't see any change. That aligns with text deeper in their blog post:
> Upon sign-up with Cloudflare, every new domain will now be asked if they want to allow AI crawlers, giving customers the choice upfront to explicitly allow or deny AI crawlers access. This significant shift means that every new domain starts with the default of control, and eliminates the need for webpage owners to manually configure their settings to opt out. Customers can easily check their settings and enable crawling at any time if they want their content to be freely accessed.
Not sure what this looks like in practice, or whether existing customers will be notified of the new option or something. But I also wouldn't fault someone for misinterpreting the headlines; they were a bit misleading.
[1]: https://www.cloudflare.com/en-ca/press-releases/2025/cloudfl...
[2]: https://www.theverge.com/news/695501/cloudflare-block-ai-cra...