Cloudflare acquires AI data marketplace Human Native to power creator monetization

Cloudflare announced Thursday the acquisition of Human Native, a London-based AI data marketplace, in a move to improve data accessibility and support for AI developers and content creators, ensuring both benefit from the generative AI economy.

The acquisition will focus on developing tools that enable AI developers to discover, access, and purchase high-quality data through transparent channels, while supporting creators to convert and monetize their content effectively.

“Content creators deserve full control over their work, whether they want to write for humans or optimize for AI,” Cloudflare co-founder Matthew Prince stated.

Human Native’s expertise will help build tools that allow for fair pricing, transparent transaction channels, and enhanced content utility for AI purposes, promoting a sustainable open Internet model, Prince added.

The London-born startup Human Native started its journey in 2024 with a goal to create an infrastructure for a fair AI economy that helps developers responsibly source high-quality data and enables rights holders to participate in the AI industry with confidence, clarity, and proper compensation.

The company previously secured £2.8M in seed funding from LocalGlobe and Mercuri. The team includes veterans of DeepMind, Google, Figma, and Bloomberg.

“We started Human Native with the goal of getting Generative AI out of its Napster era,” said Dr. James Smith, co-founder of Human Native. “We believe that creators should have control, compensation, and credit when their work is used to power AI products.”