AI-generated traffic is growing faster than human internet activity, pushing businesses to rethink how they manage automated requests, protect digital infrastructure, and prepare for a more AI-driven internet.
Fastly Inc., a global edge cloud platform, found that artificial intelligence (AI) requests across its network grew about 30% between January and May 2026, around 6.5 times faster than human traffic growth during the same period.
Fastly said the increase indicates a shift in how people and machines interact online. AI systems are no longer only tools that generate content or answer questions. They are increasingly accessing websites, applications, and APIs to collect information, compare options, and complete tasks for users.
“AI traffic is fundamentally changing how the internet operates,” said Artur Bergman, founder and chief technology officer at Fastly. “Businesses are moving beyond a world where humans are the primary users of digital experiences. The challenge is no longer simply blocking bots, it’s understanding which machine interactions should be accelerated, managed, challenged, or stopped.”
Fastly’s research identified two main types of AI traffic: AI crawlers and AI fetchers. AI crawlers collect information from websites to help build and update AI models, while AI fetchers retrieve information in response to user requests through AI assistants and AI-powered applications.
These AI-driven requests are also putting different demands on websites and online services. Based on May 2026 data, more than half, or 51%, of AI requests required access to a company’s origin servers, compared with less than 9% of human requests.
The study also found major differences in AI traffic growth. Claude-related traffic increased more than 555% compared with its January 2026 baseline, showing how quickly AI platforms can change internet activity patterns.
For businesses, Fastly said AI traffic management is becoming more than a cybersecurity issue. Companies now need to decide how AI systems interact with their content and whether those interactions create business value.
Fastly noted that some organizations are blocking AI fetchers to protect their content, while others are allowing AI agents to access their platforms to potentially increase visibility across AI-powered services.
The company said businesses need three key capabilities to manage AI traffic: visibility into which AI systems are accessing their digital properties, understanding the purpose and value of those interactions, and having the ability to respond based on business impact.