AI and bot internet activity outpaces human use for first time in history: ‘On the other side now’

Nypost · Jun 05, 2026 · 447 words · By Alex Oliveira

AI and Automation Internet Infrastructure Data privacy

headphones Listen to the eFinder podcast briefing

Ready to play

Daily briefing

What to know about AI and Automation

AI and bot internet activity outpaces human use for first time in history: ‘On the other side now’ See more of our coverage in your search results.

Claims checked 5

Techniques found 2

Topics 3

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center83%

Right17%

6 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

AI and bot internet activity outpaces human use for first time in history: ‘On the other side now’ See more of our coverage in your search results.

Why it matters

Add The New York Post on GoogleThe machines have risen.

Common ground

Artificial intelligence and automated bots’ online activity has outpaced humans’ for the first time in history — with more than half of all internet traffic coming from automations instead of real people.

Perspective signals

The tension in the story is sharpened by Loaded Language, Exaggeration / Hyperbole: language that can make the dispute feel more urgent, personal, or adversarial than the underlying facts alone.

Follow-up questions

What new context would change how readers understand this AI and Automation story?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that Artificial intelligence and automated bots’ online activity has outpaced humans’ for the first time in history — with more than half of all internet traffic coming from automations instead of real people?
How does this story connect AI and Automation with Internet Infrastructure over the next few days?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://nypost.com/2026/06/05/us-news/ai-and-bot-internet-activity-outpaces-huma…

psychologyPropaganda Techniques Detected

eFinder identified 2 propaganda techniques in this article. These signals explain how wording, emphasis, or missing context can shape a reader's interpretation.

warning

Loaded Language 80% confidence

Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.

Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.

Why it matters: Recognizing loaded language helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

warning

Exaggeration / Hyperbole 70% confidence

Overstating facts or claims to create a stronger emotional response.

Why it matters: Recognizing exaggeration / hyperbole helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 5 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 4

report Misleading 1

check_circle

Claim 1: “Artificial intelligence and automated bots’ online activity has outpaced humans’ for the first time in history — with more than half of all internet traffic coming from automations instead of real people.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple independent sources (CNET, AOL, and other web search results) confirm that bot traffic has surpassed human traffic for the first time, citing Cloudflare data.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Jun 29, 2026 ... Cloudflare says AI agents now generate most web traffic, marking a historic shift that could reshape how websites, businesses, and people ...
https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/bots-now-out…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Jun 4, 2026 ... Cloudflare says 57.4% of requests to a selection of websites it hosts are now automated bot requests, while 42.6% are human-generated.
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/bot-web-traffic-overt…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Jun 12, 2026 ... For the first time in internet history, automated bot traffic has officially surpassed human traffic online. According to real-time data ...
https://www.facebook.com/FastCompany/posts/bot-traffic-has-p…

check_circle

Claim 2: “A shocking 57.4% of all web activity came from AI agents and bots — automated software that cycles internet tasks on repeat — compared to just 42.7% being driven by humans, as of at least May, data from internet hosting service Cloudflare revealed.”

CORROBORATED

The specific figures (57.4% bots vs 42.7% humans) are explicitly reported by AOL and other web search results citing Cloudflare data.

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — 1.1.1.1 is a free Domain Name System (DNS) service by the American company Cloudflare that was started in a partnership with APNIC. The service functions as a recursive name server, providing domain n…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1.1.1.1

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — Cloudflare, Inc., is an American technology company headquartered in San Francisco, California, that provides a range of internet services, including content delivery network (CDN) services, cloud cyb…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloudflare

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — This article lists standard and notable non-standard HTTP response status codes. Standardized codes are defined by IETF as documented in Request for Comments (RFC) publications and maintained by the I…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_HTTP_status_codes

+ 3 more evidence sources

report

Claim 3: “traffic generated from them spiking by 187% in 2025, according to a report from the cybersecurity group Human Security.”

MISLEADING

The claim states traffic spiked by 187% in 2025. However, the evidence from 'The 2026 State of AI Traffic & Cyberthreat Benchmark Report' by HUMAN states that AI-driven traffic 'nearly tripled' (which is a 200% increase, not 187%) and specifically notes that 'AI agent traffic grew 7851%'. The 187% figure is not explicitly supported by the provided evidence, which instead suggests a higher growth rate ('nearly tripled').

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — In the context of generative artificial intelligence, AI agents (also referred to as compound AI systems or agentic AI) are a class of intelligent agents that can pursue goals, use tools, and take act…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AI_agent

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — AI slop, also known as slop content or simply slop, is digital content made with generative artificial intelligence that is perceived as lacking in effort, quality, or meaning, and produced in high vo…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AI_slop

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — Artificial general intelligence (AGI) is a hypothetical type of artificial intelligence that matches or surpasses human capabilities across virtually all cognitive tasks. Beyond AGI, artificial superi…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_general_intelligenc…

+ 3 more evidence sources

check_circle

Claim 4: “Prince believes it occurred sometime in the “last few months,” and added that we are “clearly on the other side now” in an X post.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources (Forbes Liberia, Tom's Hardware, and other web search results) confirm that Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince posted on X about the bot traffic threshold being crossed faster than predicted.

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — Perplexity AI, Inc., or simply Perplexity, is an American privately held software company offering a web search engine that processes user queries and synthesizes responses. Perplexity products use la…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perplexity_AI

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — Matthew Browning Prince (born (1974-11-13)November 13, 1974) is an American businessman and executive. He is the co-founder, executive chairman, and chief executive officer of the technology company …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Prince

+ 3 more evidence sources

check_circle

Claim 5: “Traffic from automated AI programs for human users also rose by about 8,000% last year, CNBC reported.”

CORROBORATED

The evidence from the '2026 State of AI Traffic & Cyberthreat Benchmark Report' confirms that AI agent traffic grew by 7851%, which aligns with the 'about 8,000%' figure mentioned in the claim. While the provided CNBC search results are general, the specific data point is corroborated by the HUMAN report.

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — Anthropic, PBC is an American artificial intelligence (AI) company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It has developed a series of large language models (LLMs) named Claude and has a focus on…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropic

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — Claude is a series of large language models developed by American software company Anthropic. Named after Claude Shannon, Claude was released as an AI-based chatbot in March 2023. It is also used in A…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_(AI)

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — Tempus AI, Inc. (formerly Tempus Labs) is an American health technology company founded in 2015 by Eric Lefkofsky in Chicago, Illinois. It was established by Lefkofsky soon after his wife was diagnose…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempus_AI

+ 3 more evidence sources

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.