Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian warns 'much of the internet is now dead'

Alexis Ohanian warns about the state of the internet and its future

Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian expressed concerns about the current state of the internet during an appearance on TBPN (Technology Business Programming Network).

Ohanian described much of the online environment as “botted” or “quasi-AI,” reflecting a trend he says is reducing human interaction on social platforms.

“You all prove the point that so much of the internet is now dead,” Ohanian told hosts John Coogan and Jordi Hays, emphasizing the prevalence of automated content and low-effort posts, including what he referred to as “LinkedIn slop.”

Ohanian cited the “dead internet theory,” which suggests bot activity may outnumber human activity online.

While OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently noted he had previously dismissed the theory, he acknowledged seeing “a lot of LLM (Large Language Model) run Twitter accounts.”

The entrepreneur argued that the internet’s future depends on “live viewers and live content,” with social media evolving to focus on verifiably human interactions.

He highlighted the growing importance of private group chats on platforms like Discord and Signal as spaces for genuine human connection, though he also noted that some users are beginning to incorporate AI into these chats.

“I think we’ll see a next generation of social media emerge that’s verifiably human, because it’s all going down in the group chats now,” Ohanian said, pointing to the ongoing shift away from traditional public feeds.