Cloudflare Unveils Permanent ID Tool for AI Shopping Agents

Cloudflare has launched cloudflare.id, a permanent ID tool that allows users to assign their bot-readable identity to various agents. This identity is in the form of a permanent web address that can be assigned to different agents, enabling merchants to confirm that an agent is acting on behalf of the user.

The new tool is part of Cloudflare's effort to support the growing field of agentic commerce, which uses bots for online buying and selling. According to Cloudflare's Chief Strategy Officer Stephanie Cohen, around 57% of web traffic consists of bots, creating a new world of business opportunities.

Cloudflare's identity service is paired with a wallet that can hold funds for the agent to spend. The user creates a virtual wallet funded by a bank transfer and converted into stablecoins, a dollar-pegged currency. The user can then grant permission to their agent to access the wallet and make purchases on their behalf.

Cohen notes that the current internet is constructed around HTML webpages, but with bots doing the browsing, there's no need for all the content that goes into an HTML page. This change in design allows for a more efficient way of selling information and data to AI agents, often for pennies, compared to human users who require frictionless subscription-based models.

The technology behind Cloudflare's new tool is rapidly falling into place, with open-source protocols like the X402 regime developed by a consortium including Coinbase, Cloudflare, and Stripe. Incumbents such as Visa and Mastercard are also retooling their payment rails to accommodate the bot shopping economy.