Cloudflare Publishes Fourth Annual Impact Report

Rhea-AI Summary

Cloudflare (NYSE: NET) has published its fourth annual Impact Report, highlighting key achievements in protecting democratic processes and content creators' rights. The company provided cybersecurity services to 90+ political campaigns and 60+ local media sites ahead of the 2024 U.S. elections, while monitoring elections in over 70 countries through Cloudflare Radar.

Notable accomplishments include launching tools to help websites control AI bot access, expanding AI capabilities with GPUs in 180+ cities, and defending 2,900+ vulnerable Internet properties from an average of 95.8 million daily attacks. Through Project Alexandria, Cloudflare supported open source projects, contributing over $15 million in donated products and services in 2024.

Positive

• Protected 2,900+ vulnerable Internet properties from 95.8 million daily attacks
• Expanded AI infrastructure to 180+ cities globally
• Provided $15 million worth of donated products and services
• Successfully secured 90+ political campaigns and 60+ local media sites during elections

Negative

• None.

Insights

Market Research Analyst

The publication of Cloudflare's Impact Report, while showcasing impressive operational achievements, does not contain material financial information that would directly influence investment decisions. The report primarily focuses on ESG initiatives, cybersecurity efforts and social impact programs. While the $15 million in donated services is noteworthy, it represents a minimal portion of Cloudflare's overall revenue and operations given its $40.3 billion market cap.

The expansion of AI capabilities across 180 cities and the protection of 2,900+ properties through Project Galileo demonstrate operational scale, but without specific revenue metrics or growth figures, these details are not materially significant for stock valuation purposes. The report serves more as a corporate social responsibility document rather than a market-moving financial disclosure.

Tech Expert

The technical developments highlighted in this report, while impressive from an operational standpoint, lack quantifiable business impact metrics. The deployment of GPUs for AI applications across 180 cities and new tools for content creator control over AI bots represent strategic positioning in emerging markets, but without adoption rates, revenue generation potential, or market share data, these initiatives cannot be properly evaluated for their financial impact.

The election security services and DDoS protection capabilities demonstrate Cloudflare's technical prowess, but these are part of existing service offerings rather than new revenue streams. Project Alexandria's support for open source software, while valuable for the tech ecosystem, is primarily a community initiative rather than a revenue-generating program.

Report details key milestones in helping protect democratic elections, protecting content creator rights, and supporting the open source community

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Cloudflare, Inc. (NYSE: NET), the leading connectivity cloud company, today published its fourth annual Impact Report. The report describes the company’s efforts to advance its mission–to help build a better Internet–as well as support global initiatives like protecting the open Internet and building an innovation economy. Highlights of this year’s report include helping secure election and other critical infrastructure, advancements in encryption transparency, and tools to help content creators regain control from AI bots. The report also includes support for the development of Internet standards, open source projects, and the next generation of great startups.

“In 2024, we witnessed half of the world’s population eligible to vote against a backdrop of continued conflict and social unrest. Cloudflare worked to help protect critical voices and democratic processes, and ensure creators retained control of their work in an increasingly complex digital landscape,” said Matthew Prince, co-founder and CEO, Cloudflare. “Whether it was helping to secure global elections, or helping content creators limit how AI bots access their content, I am proud of how the Cloudflare team supports needs bigger than all of us—delivering on our commitment to helping build a better, more open, and more secure Internet.”

Key milestones highlighted in Cloudflare’s 2024 Impact Report include:

• Onboarding 90+ political campaigns and 60+ local media sites in preparation for 2024 U.S. elections: Cloudflare provides free cyber security services to state and local governments’ election websites, as well as political campaigns and other related entities through its partnership with Defending Digital Campaigns. Despite detecting a notable increase in DDoS attacks targeting political entities prior to the U.S. elections on November 5, Cloudflare did not observe those attacks causing any significant disruptions.
• Reporting on global elections with Cloudflare Radar: More than 70 countries held elections in 2024. Cloudflare monitors Internet traffic, attacks, and potential shutdowns during elections around the world through our free public resource Cloudflare Radar, and publishes those results to help civil society partners better understand what happens online throughout the electoral process.
• Empowering content creators to regain control in the age of AI: Cloudflare launched new tools to help create a transparent exchange between websites that want greater control over their content and the AI model providers that are in need of fresh data sources. Now, website owners can block, audit, and control how AI bots access their websites.
• Expanding access to affordable, powerful, and responsible AI, with GPUs in over 180 cities: AI applications built with Workers AI are deployed directly on our edge network, so they are instantly available and nearly infinitely scalable to users all over the world. Workers AI helps customers control costs and gain low-latency access to popular AI models thanks to AI-capable GPUs dispersed closer to users around the globe.
• Defending 2,900+ vulnerable Internet properties from an average of 95.8 million daily attacks, at no cost: Human rights defenders, journalists, humanitarian organizations, and the voices of political dissent are often vulnerable to cyber attacks. In collaboration with 54 civil society partners, Cloudflare’s Project Galileo—now in its tenth year—protects public interest groups from attacks intended to silence them online.
• Equipping the open source community with free services through Project Alexandria: Open source software (OSS) is vital to the continued health of the Internet. Cloudflare introduced Project Alexandria to provide recurring annual credits and an expanded range of free services to help OSS projects not only survive, but thrive.

Overall, Cloudflare has provided more than $15 million in donated products and services in 2024 through these Impact programs. To learn more, please read the full 2024 Impact Report.

About Cloudflare

Cloudflare, Inc. (NYSE: NET) is the leading connectivity cloud company on a mission to help build a better Internet. It empowers organizations to make their employees, applications and networks faster and more secure everywhere, while reducing complexity and cost. Cloudflare’s connectivity cloud delivers the most full-featured, unified platform of cloud-native products and developer tools, so any organization can gain the control they need to work, develop, and accelerate their business.

Powered by one of the world’s largest and most interconnected networks, Cloudflare blocks billions of threats online for its customers every day. It is trusted by millions of organizations – from the largest brands to entrepreneurs and small businesses to nonprofits, humanitarian groups, and governments across the globe.

Learn more about Cloudflare’s connectivity cloud at cloudflare.com/connectivity-cloud. Learn more about the latest Internet trends and insights at https://radar.cloudflare.com.

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Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, which statements involve substantial risks and uncertainties. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements because they contain words such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “expect,” “explore,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “could,” “intend,” “target,” “project,” “contemplate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential,” or “continue,” or the negative of these words, or other similar terms or expressions that concern Cloudflare’s expectations, strategy, plans, or intentions. However, not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Forward-looking statements expressed or implied in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements regarding Cloudflare’s products, initiatives, and results as reflected in the Impact Report, Cloudflare’s global network, and Cloudflare’s products and technology, Cloudflare’s technological development, future operations, growth, initiatives, or strategies, and comments made by Cloudflare’s CEO and others. Actual results could differ materially from those stated or implied in forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including but not limited to, risks detailed in Cloudflare’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including Cloudflare’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed on November 7, 2024, as well as other filings that Cloudflare may make from time to time with the SEC.

The forward-looking statements made in this press release relate only to events as of the date on which the statements are made. Cloudflare undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements made in this press release to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this press release or to reflect new information or the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by law. Cloudflare may not actually achieve the plans, intentions, or expectations disclosed in Cloudflare’s forward-looking statements, and you should not place undue reliance on Cloudflare’s forward-looking statements.

© 2024 Cloudflare, Inc. All rights reserved. Cloudflare, the Cloudflare logo, and other Cloudflare marks are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Cloudflare, Inc. in the U.S. and other jurisdictions. All other marks and names referenced herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241219556565/en/

Cloudflare, Inc.

Daniella Vallurupalli

Vice President, Head of Global Communications

press@cloudflare.com

Source: Cloudflare, Inc.

FAQ

How many political campaigns did Cloudflare (NET) protect during the 2024 U.S. elections?

Cloudflare protected over 90 political campaigns and 60 local media sites during the 2024 U.S. elections through its partnership with Defending Digital Campaigns.

How many vulnerable Internet properties did Cloudflare (NET) defend in 2024?

Cloudflare defended over 2,900 vulnerable Internet properties from an average of 95.8 million daily attacks through its Project Galileo initiative.

What is Cloudflare's (NET) investment in donated services for 2024?

Cloudflare provided more than $15 million in donated products and services through its Impact programs in 2024.

How many cities have Cloudflare's (NET) AI-capable GPUs in 2024?

Cloudflare has deployed AI-capable GPUs in over 180 cities globally to provide affordable and responsible AI services.

What new tools did Cloudflare (NET) launch to protect content creators from AI bots?

Cloudflare launched tools that allow website owners to block, audit, and control how AI bots access their websites, creating a transparent exchange between websites and AI model providers.