Sam Altman Says Rise in Twitter Bots Lends Credence to Dead Internet Theory
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman posted on X that “i never took the dead internet theory that seriously but it seems like there are really a lot of LLM-run twitter accounts now,” prompting renewed debate about the prevalence of AI-generated accounts and content online.
X platform observers noted the remark underscored growing concerns around authenticity, moderation, and detection of LLM-driven activity on social media. Critics pointed out that Elon Musk appeared determined to eliminate AI bots when he took over Twitter, but the issue remains unresolved and may have worsened since, leading platforms and researchers to call for improved transparency and tools to distinguish human from AI-operated accounts. Dead Internet Theory is the hypothesis that a large portion of online content and interactions are produced by bots or automated systems rather than real humans.