In April 2025, ChatGPT, the flagship model of the OpenAI ecosystem, achieved more than 5 billion visits in a single month, becoming the fifth most visited site in the world. Therefore, for the first time in decades, Google, Wikipedia and YouTube are experiencing drops of up to 6%.
As ChatGPT becomes the “new Google” for millions of users—who prefer to ask AI directly instead of browsing web pages—a crucial question arises: Are we seeing the end of the internet as we know it? **
The web, built for years on links, advertising and user-generated content, now faces its greatest challenge: artificial intelligence that threatens to devour the model that powers it.
How do we get here? Who are the winners and losers of this revolution? And most importantly: will the open internet survive?
Why do people prefer to ask AI?
While ChatGPT grows 15% monthly, traditional search engines plummet. Bing lost 18% of users in a year, Yahoo lost 11%, and Google—for the first time in its history—saw searches on Safari drop. But what makes AI so irresistible?
The magic is in the immediacy.
Imagine searching “How to make hummus without tahini?” On Google, you have to open 3 or 4 links, compare recipes, and intrusive advertising.
ChatGPT gives you the exact answer in seconds, even adjusting ingredients. According to SimilarWeb, 75% of AI queries do not require external clicks; people get what they need without leaving the screen.
Goodbye to generic results.
«Google shows the same thing for everyone; ChatGPT understands nuances,” explains a user who asks the AI to range from “explain quantum theory as if it were 5 years old” to “write a professional email with an empathetic tone.”
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, confirms it: «Millennials use it as a life coach; boomers, like an improved Google.”
The result
A generation accustomed to personalized responses and no ads can no longer tolerate the old model. The question now is: what will happen to the websites they used to visit?
Who is in crisis over AI?
ChatGPT’s impact is felt especially strongly in traditional media, where 40% of its traffic historically came from Google. Today, that vital flow is drying up. Large conglomerates such as Axel Springer and News Corp have chosen to sign million-dollar agreements with OpenAI, receiving compensation ranging between $5 and $250 million for licensing their content.
It is a temporary solution, but revealing: even the media giants recognize that the traditional model is in danger. Meanwhile, small creators face an even bleaker outlook.
Without being able to negotiate with large AI companies, bloggers and independent sites see their traffic and advertising revenue evaporate. They have no lifeline but the harsh reality of a digital ecosystem that is less dependent on their contributions.
Even Wikipedia, that bastion of free information, has suffered the consequences: in just one month it lost 6% of its visits, a significant blow for a project that depends 70% on the traffic that Google sends it.
Who will feed the AI if the web disappears?
The data is conclusive: according to the Brookings Institute, 75% of searches carried out using AI do not generate a single click to the original websites.
This creates a vicious cycle: less traffic means less income for content creators, leading to fewer updates and, eventually, an increasingly sterile website.
The danger is clear. If independent sites, specialized media, and even collaborative projects like Wikipedia continue to lose visitors, AI will be left without the constant flow of fresh information it needs to stay relevant.
What good will an advanced language model be if its answers are based on outdated or incomplete data? The irony is palpable: technology that promised to democratize knowledge could end up destroying the ecosystem that makes it possible. **
Therefore, an uncomfortable but inevitable question arises: if AI follows this path, what will be left to fuel it in the future?
How companies are reacting to the AI tsunami
Google, seeing its reign threatened, has launched its own search AI, although with controversial results: while it offers instant responses, it has reduced clicks to external sites by between 70% and 80%.
Meta follows a similar path, integrating chatbots into all of its platforms. They are radical changes that demonstrate an uncomfortable truth: even technology giants are being forced to reinvent themselves.
Some traditional media have opted for financial diplomacy. News Corp, publisher of The Wall Street Journal, secured a $250 million deal with OpenAI, while Axel Springer (owner of Business Insider) negotiated between $25 million and $30 million.
For independent creators, the strategy is different but equally urgent. Many are pivoting toward deeply original content—investigative reporting, expert analysis—that AI can’t easily replicate.
Others explore subscription models or private communities, where the value is not in the clicks but in the human connections.
What will become of the future of the internet?
The rise of AI confronts us with a critical dilemma: efficiency versus preservation of the digital ecosystem. ChatGPT and the like offer quick responses, but their success could empty the web of the content that feeds them.
Large media outlets negotiate their survival with million-dollar deals, while independent creators fight to reinvent themselves. The real challenge is not technological, but model: how to keep a diverse Internet alive when AI centralizes knowledge.
The solution could be to balance both forces: take advantage of artificial intelligence without drowning the sources that make it possible.
The future of the internet will depend on us valuing immediate access and supporting those who generate the content. At this crossroads, one thing is clear: the web we knew is mutating, but its essence can still be saved if we act with conscience.
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