Artificial intelligence (AI) companies are facing heavier cyberattacks amid growing public debate over the technology’s impact, according to web infrastructure and security firm Cloudflare.
In its DDoS Threat Report for the third quarter of 2025, Cloudflare said attacks against AI and generative AI platforms jumped 347 percent in September, coinciding with intensifying discussions on AI regulation, data privacy, and deepfakes.
The company said the surge appeared to mirror global sentiment toward AI’s rapid adoption.
Cloudflare added that botnets-for-hire, or rentable networks of compromised devices, have made it easier and cheaper for attackers to launch large-scale disruptions, sometimes for only a few hundred dollars.
Cloudflare also reported a spike in attacks linked to EU–China trade frictions, particularly targeting industries tied to rare-earth minerals and electric vehicles.
The Mining, Minerals, and Metals sector climbed 24 spots in Cloudflare’s ranking of most-targeted industries, while Automotive jumped 62 spots quarter-on-quarter. These trends coincided with trade measures on raw materials and EV tariffs imposed earlier this year.
Analysts said the pattern shows how economic disputes are now extending into cyberspace, where industries vital to global supply chains face mounting digital risks.
Most DDoS incidents now last less than 10 minutes but generate massive bursts of traffic meant to overwhelm targets before defenses can respond, Cloudflare said.
The company added that all detected attacks were automatically mitigated through its global network.
Still, it urged high-visibility sectors like AI, automotive, and energy to strengthen their cloud-based defenses.
Cloudflare is one of the world’s largest web security and content delivery networks, serving millions of sites worldwide.
However, its reliability was tested on November 18, 2025, when a global outage briefly took down services such as ChatGPT, X (formerly Twitter), and several major apps.
The company blamed a configuration error for the disruption, which highlighted how dependent the internet has become on a few key providers.
