Generative AI The New Threat To The Open Web

A New Kind of Threat Emerges

Early last year, a new kind of alarm began to sound across the digital landscape, reaching the ears of Matthew Prince, the CEO of Cloudflare. His company provides the foundational security for approximately twenty percent of the entire web, so when leaders of major media companies call with concerns, it signals a significant shift.

These executives were not worried about the usual suspects. When Prince inquired if a rogue state was behind the new threat, the answer was startling. The danger was not a nation-state actor or a typical cyberattack. As Prince recalls, they told him the threat was, simply, "AI."

This single, two-letter acronym represents a profound challenge to the established order of the internet, raising questions about the future of online business and content creation as the rise of ChatGPT and its rivals undermines the economic bargain of the web.

This development sits at the intersection of several critical topics, including the rapid evolution of artificial intelligence, its impact on global business, and the role of key players like OpenAI.