AI agents and other bots now generate about 57% of web requests, according to Cloudflare data. Internet infrastructure stocks, which carry that traffic, are climbing.
Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince expected bots to pass humans by the end of 2027. Instead, he said, it happened in May.
Who Profits When Bots Send Most Web Traffic?
These companies run content delivery networks (CDNs), server hubs worldwide that speed up and secure web traffic. More automated requests mean more demand for that capacity, CNBC’s Jim Cramer argues.
Cramer said Cloudflare (NET) is up 121% from its February low. Akamai (AKAM) has gained 51% from its November low, and Fastly (FSLY) is up 159% this year.
Akamai’s latest catalyst is Anthropic. The company announced an $11.6 billion, seven-year commitment from the AI lab on September 24, according to its SEC filing.
The contract covers Anthropic’s central processing unit (CPU) workloads. It also gives the AI lab a warrant to buy up to about 5% of Akamai’s shares.
Shares jumped as much as 16% the next day, CNBC reported. Cramer said they have since given back those gains and more.
Akamai expects no change to 2026 revenue guidance. It plans to spend about $1.7 billion more this year on components such as memory.
Is Akamai Really Cheaper Than Cloudflare and Fastly?
Cramer called Akamai cheap at under 16 times this year’s earnings estimates. He put Cloudflare at 279 times and Fastly at more than 50.
He tied Akamai’s discount to a year of heavy spending. Cloudflare’s revenue growth has accelerated for about a year, he said.
Goldman Sachs strategist Peter Oppenheimer sees risk across the sector. He warned of an earnings bubble in tech, pointing to heavy borrowing and AI spending that is outpacing cash flow.
Cloudflare CEO Prince wants AI companies to pay for the content their crawlers collect. On September 15, Cloudflare launched a setting that lets sites refuse AI training while staying in search results.
Apple and Google already honor the opt-out, while Microsoft plans support in early 2027, according to Cloudflare.
Prince says automated traffic could reach 1,000 times human traffic within five years. Whether AI firms pay for it may decide who funds the infrastructure behind it.