Commercial software intelligenceEvidence checked · 8 September 2026
SkuTrace

Commercial product change, preserved as evidence.

SK-2026-126 · Pricing, billing & commercial terms

AWS WAF launches AI-traffic monetisation with HTTP 402 enforcement

Publishers can price content requested by AI bots and agents, require payment through HTTP 402 responses and have AWS WAF verify proof of payment at the edge before issuing scoped access.

Payment enforcement available

Commercial transition

Previous stateAWS WAF did not provide the new content-pricing, payment-verification and scoped-access-token mechanism for AI traffic.
→
New statePublishers can meter AI requests, return prices, payment methods and licence terms in an HTTP 402 response, verify stablecoin payment through Coinbase x402 and grant scoped access at CloudFront-associated edge locations.

Who is affected

Publishers using AWS WAF with CloudFront who choose to monetise content consumed by AI bots or agents.

Action required

Define price and licence policy, configure bot matching and payment verification, test scoped access and account for standard WAF charges.

Evidence boundary

The feature carries no additional feature charge but standard AWS WAF charges continue. Stripe and Machine Payments Protocol support were future integrations, and no revenue outcome is implied.

Timeline

  1. Payment enforcement available

    Publishers can meter AI requests, return prices, payment methods and licence terms in an HTTP 402 response, verify stablecoin payment through Coinbase x402 and grant scoped access at CloudFront-associated edge locations.

Official sources