AI agents have become extremely popular over the last month with the release of OpenClaw and Moltbook, and that is having second-order effects on the stocks of some internet companies.
Cloudflare’s stock gained 5% Wednesday after the company beat Wall Street’s fourth-quarter estimates and issued upbeat guidance as artificial intelligence adoption fuels demand for its networking and security tools. The surge came on the heels of comments from CEO Matthew Prince, who positioned Cloudflare as the infrastructure backbone for what he sees as a fundamental shift in how the internet is used.
AI Agents as Internet Users
In an earnings call with analysts Tuesday, Prince said the rise of AI and agentic tools that can carry out tasks on a user’s behalf has driven increased demand for Cloudflare’s networking and security offerings.
“If AI agents are the new users of the internet, Cloudflare is the platform they run on and the network they pass through,” Prince told analysts. “This creates a virtuous flywheel.”
The CEO described what’s happening as a “fundamental re-platforming” of the internet, suggesting that the shift to AI agents as primary internet users could be as significant as previous platform transitions in computing history.
The Agentic Internet
Prince’s thesis is compelling: if AI agents increasingly browse websites, make purchases, book appointments, and perform other tasks on behalf of humans, the nature of internet traffic fundamentally changes. These agents need robust networking infrastructure, security protocols, and the ability to access services reliably at scale.
Cloudflare, which provides content delivery network services, DDoS protection, and internet security to millions of websites, is positioned to capture that demand. The company’s network already handles a significant portion of global internet traffic, and an influx of AI agent activity would only increase that volume.
The timing is notable. OpenClaw (formerly Clawdbot) has emerged as one of the most popular AI agent frameworks, while Moltbook, a Reddit-like social network for AI agents launched weeks ago, has already attracted over 1 million AI agents generating thousands of posts. If these early indicators suggest a broader trend toward AI agents as active internet participants, infrastructure providers like Cloudflare stand to benefit significantly.
What This Means For Internet Infrastructure
Cloudflare’s positioning highlights a broader question facing internet infrastructure companies: will the rise of AI agents require fundamentally different networking and security architecture, or will existing infrastructure simply need to scale?
Prince’s comments suggest the latter, positioning Cloudflare as already having the necessary tools in place. But the company is clearly betting that AI agent traffic will be substantial enough to meaningfully impact its business.
As AI agents move from experimental projects to production deployments—handling customer service, conducting research, managing schedules, and even socializing with each other on platforms like Moltbook—the infrastructure demands will grow. Cloudflare is making an early claim that it will be the picks-and-shovels provider for this new gold rush.
Whether that thesis plays out remains to be seen, but for now, investors seem willing to bet on the agentic internet.