AI Apocalypse: Bots now account for over half of global internet traffic, including 75% of Twitter

Welcome to the AI apocalypse. The bots are here, they’re multiplying, and they’re not even trying to hide anymore. According to Fortune, automated bots now make up more than half of all global internet traffic.

AI Apocalypse: Bots now account for over half of global internet traffic

Bots now account for over half of global internet traffic, per FORTUNE

— unusual_whales (@unusual_whales) July 31, 2025

I mean, it’s not that big of a surprise, but the number itself is a bit glaring.

Fortune – The catch is that the surge in bot activity is not just disrupting web traffic—it may also be inflating the internet economy by distorting the very metrics that drive tech company valuations. Automated bots now make up more than half of global internet traffic. Bots surpassed human-generated activity for the first time in 2024, according to Imperva, a subsidiary of cybersecurity giant Thales. Imperva, which issues a “Bad Bot report,” found that almost 50% of internet traffic comes from non-human sources, with 20% of that being so-called “bad bots,” prone to a host of malicious activities.

Over 50% of the web is just ones and zeroes pretending to be people and if that wasn’t enough to make you question reality, they also referenced a stat from Mashable saying that 75.85% of Super Bowl LVIII traffic on Twitter was fake.

Quick math: Three out of every four users scrolling during the Super Bowl were not real. I’m convinced that all of the idiots who know nothing about sports but drive massive engagement numbers on Twitter are bots now.

AI Apocalypse: Bots now account for over 75% of Twitter

twitter specifically is 76% https://t.co/97zPmsj5cI pic.twitter.com/Qfn4AO5ij4

— 2mm (@2mm2mm2mm2mm) July 31, 2025

Again, I’m not one to like anyone or thing on Twitter so this all feels… exactly right.

The majority of people on the internet are absolute idiots. Mix in the bots which clearly, aren’t at the level that’s needed to pass for a human, and all of the sudden, we are no longer the hunters. Human beings are now the hunted.

The Internet is Fake and EVERYONE is lying

Fortune lays it out: we’re watching a full-scale AI bubble inflate like the Hindenburg, and a decent chunk of that hot air is coming from bots.

Not just annoying spam bots either.

We’re talking about “bad bots”, the kind that inflate engagement metrics, run scams, boost stream numbers, sell NFTs, or just reply to every tweet with “This. 🔥🔥” like anyone actually thinks they are a real human.

Even Twitch CEO Dan Clancy openly admitted this week that botting is out of control. Streamers are faking view counts, botting for ad revenue, and some are allegedly paying $20,000 a week to juice their numbers.

The main problem with all of that is the fact that it actually works.

That’s not just a Twitch problem. That’s an internet problem. A valuation problem. A “hey, maybe this entire digital economy is built on fake numbers” problem.

At the very least, investors aren’t buying into the fake reality

If the biggest AI startups are being evaluated on user engagement and activity… and a huge chunk of that is bots watching bots, clicking on bots, or responding to bots with fake human responses, how long until the whole thing implodes?

Fortune quotes Apollo Global economist Torsten Slok, who claims the top 10 companies in the S&P 500 are more overvalued today than they were during the dotcom bubble.

That alone should keep you up at night. Now factor in that a good portion of their “user base” isn’t human and we’re heading full speed towards the closest cliff.

Honestly, it feels like Idiocracy was a prophecy.

You can become a millionaire now by simply pretending people like you on the internet. You can have millions of followers, 10 billion views, and absolutely zero cultural footprint.

That’s fucking insane, right?

We’re at the point where 10 large Twitter accounts could invent a fake streamer and within a week they’d have a million followers, a sponsorship with G Fuel, and be trending on TikTok and literally none of it would be real.

Is this the future or one step closer to the end?

There’s two ways to look at all of this:

1. We’re screwed. The internet is fake, bots run everything, and a financial collapse is coming when investors realize they’ve been pumping money into digital ghost towns.
2. We’re already living in the post-truth metaverse. None of this was ever real anyway, and now we’re just admitting it. So lean in, find your angle, and get your bots up before it’s too late.

I really believe that we are in the midst of an AI Apocalypse and we will all look back one day and be like why the fuck did we allow this to happen. If this whole AI bubble bursts and the economy tanks because we based everything on fake engagement and imaginary followers, it’s hard to think that anyone would be surprised.

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