"The viral virtual assistant OpenClaw-formerly known as Moltbot, and before that Clawdbot-is a symbol of a broader revolution underway that could fundamentally alter how the internet functions. Instead of a place primarily inhabited by humans, the web may very soon be dominated by autonomous AI bots. A new report measuring bot activity on the web, as well as related data shared with WIRED by the internet infrastructure company Akamai, shows that AI bots already account for a meaningful share of web traffic."
"Most big websites try to limit what content bots can scrape and feed to AI systems for training purposes. (WIRED's parent company, Condé Nast, as well as other publishers, are currently suing several AI companies over alleged copyright infringement related to AI training.) But another kind of AI-related website scraping is now on the rise as well. Many chatbots and other AI tools can now retrieve real-time information from the web and use it to augment and improve their outputs."
OpenClaw (formerly Moltbot and Clawdbot) exemplifies a shift toward autonomous AI bots dominating the web. Akamai and TollBit data indicate AI bots already generate a meaningful share of web traffic, with training-related scraping rising since last July and agents fetching live web content increasing globally. Websites deploy defenses to limit scraping, and publishers have pursued legal action over training-related copyright claims. Chatbots increasingly retrieve real-time web information—product prices, schedules, and news summaries—to augment outputs. An escalating technological arms race between bot developers and website operators is poised to reshape web functionality and user experience.
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