How much data is created on the internet each day in the AI era?

Jeff SchultzAugust 6, 2019
5 minutes read

Updated: August 2026

Every day, billions of people search for information, send emails and text messages, stream content, collaborate digitally, and interact with AI-powered tools. The result is an extraordinary volume of data that organizations must manage, secure, govern, and use effectively.

As data volumes continue to grow, organizations face a new challenge: turning information into a strategic asset. Success increasingly depends on the ability to manage, archive, secure, and activate information across the enterprise.

What happens on the internet every day?

Internet activity generates an astonishing amount of information every 24 hours.

Search, AI, and streaming

  • Approximately 8.5 billion Google searches are performed worldwide.1,2
  • Google’s Gemini receives more than 12.3 million visits.1
  • More than 23 million TikTok videos are uploaded.1,3
  • More than 522 million hours of Netflix content are streamed.1

These activities generate vast amounts of content, metadata, behavioral analytics, logs, and user interactions that organizations can use to improve decision-making, power AI initiatives, and deliver better customer experiences.

How many emails and messages are sent each day?

Communication remains one of the largest drivers of data growth.

Every day:

  • Approximately 361.6 billion emails are sent and received globally.1,4
  • More than 27 billion text messages are exchanged worldwide.1,5

For organizations, many of these communications become business records that must be retained, archived, protected, and governed to meet regulatory, legal, and operational requirements.

How is AI changing data creation?

Artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming one of the largest creators and consumers of information.

AI is fundamentally changing how people search for information, create content, analyze data, and complete work. As users increasingly turn to AI-powered assistants and chat-based interfaces, organizations must rethink how information is managed, governed, and made accessible.

Every day:

  • ChatGPT alone receives approximately 2.5 billion prompts, more than double the volume of a year earlier.6,7
  • AI tools generate more than 34 million images.8
  • Organizations spend nearly $1.8 billion on AI technology and services.8

The rise of AI means organizations must manage not only traditional enterprise content but also AI-generated content, prompts, outputs, and the information repositories used to power AI systems.

The growth of enterprise information

The data challenge extends well beyond public internet activity.

Organizations are managing rapidly expanding volumes of:

  • Customer records
  • Contracts
  • Financial documents
  • Product information
  • Emails and messages
  • Meeting recordings
  • Security logs
  • AI-generated content
  • Compliance records
  • Knowledge assets

Global data creation, capture, copying, and consumption reached approximately 149 zettabytes in 2024 and is projected to climb to 394 zettabytes by 2028, highlighting the growing importance of information management and information governance.1,9,10

Much of this information exists as unstructured data, making it difficult to discover, govern, secure, and use effectively without a comprehensive information management strategy.

The security risks of massive data growth

As data volumes increase, so do cybersecurity and compliance risks.

Research shows:

  • The average cost of a data breach is approximately $4.44 million.11,12
  • More than 53% of breaches involve personally identifiable information (PII).11,13
  • Worldwide, more than 60 confirmed data breaches occur every day.14

As organizations continue adopting AI and expanding digital operations, protecting sensitive information becomes just as important as managing it.

How OpenText helps organizations manage data at scale

As data volumes grow, organizations need a strategy that combines information management, governance, archival, AI readiness, and cybersecurity.

Talk to an OpenText expert about building a strategy that fits your organization.

Manage and govern enterprise content

Billions of emails, documents, videos, and AI-generated assets create significant challenges for employees trying to find and use information.

OpenText™ Content Cloud delivers a governed foundation that prepares enterprise content for AI, including solutions such as OpenText™ Content Management, and OpenText™ Core Content Management, which help organizations centralize content, improve governance, and ensure information remains accessible throughout its lifecycle.

The Content Cloud portfolio also includes:

Archive communications and business records

With hundreds of billions of emails and billions of messages exchanged daily, retention requirements continue to expand.

 OpenText™ Information Archive, and OpenText™ Core Archive for SAP® Solutions help organizations preserve business communications, support compliance initiatives, and reduce legal and regulatory risk.

Prepare information for AI

AI systems are only as effective as the information they can access.

The OpenText™ Aviator™ family, OpenText™ Knowledge Discovery, and OpenText information management solutions help organizations connect trusted content to AI workflows while maintaining governance and control.

The Aviator family extends across the enterprise, including:

Strengthen cybersecurity and compliance

As cyber threats continue to evolve, organizations need integrated security capabilities that protect information, users, and systems.

The OpenText™ Cybersecurity Cloud portfolio—including identity and access management, application security testing, digital forensics, security operations, and data security solutions—helps organizations reduce risk while improving resilience.

Improve IT operations and automation

The rapid growth of digital workplaces requires greater operational visibility and automation.

OpenText™ IT Operations Management, service management, AIOps, CMDB, asset management, and IT automation and vulnerability remediation solutions help organizations manage increasingly complex technology environments while improving efficiency and reducing operational risk. OpenText™ AI Operations Management Aviator™ brings generative AI to IT operations, cutting noise and speeding resolution.

When litigation, investigations, or regulatory requests arise, speed and accuracy matter. OpenText eDiscovery and legal technology solutions help legal teams respond with confidence.

OpenText™ eDiscovery Aviator™ uses AI to help legal teams build case strategy in days rather than months.

OpenText™ eDiscovery accelerates eDiscovery with AI-driven speed and precision.

OpenText™ Investigation supports strategy with early case assessment and investigation tools.

OpenText™ Core Insight applies advanced technology-assisted review (TAR) and automated document review.

OpenText™ Core Legal Hold automates legal holds to eliminate risky, time-consuming manual processes.

OpenText™ Legal Knowledge Management unlocks legal insights and knowledge across content silos.

The future of data is information management

The most important takeaway from today’s data explosion is not simply that more information is being created.

Every day, billions of searches, emails, AI prompts, messages, videos, and business interactions generate new information that organizations must manage responsibly. As AI adoption accelerates and data volumes continue to grow, success will increasingly depend on an organization’s ability to govern, secure, archive, and activate information across the enterprise.

Organizations that can transform growing volumes of data into trusted, accessible, and actionable information will be best positioned to realize the full value of AI, automation, and digital transformation.

Ready to take control of your data?

From content management and archiving to AI readiness and cybersecurity, OpenText helps you turn the flood of daily data into a strategic advantage. Whatever stage of your information management journey you’re in, our team can help you build a strategy that fits your organization.

Talk to an OpenText expert today and discover how you can manage, secure, and activate your data at scale.

[Originally published in 2014 on the GWAVA blog – brought up to date August 5, 2026.]

  1. Domo, Data Never Sleeps 12, 2026. https://www.domo.com/learn/infographic/data-never-sleeps-12 ↩︎
  2. DemandSage, How Many Google Searches Per Day? https://www.demandsage.com/google-search-statistics/ ↩︎
  3. SocialPilot, TikTok Statistics 2026: Users, Engagement & Marketing Insights. https://www.socialpilot.co/tiktok-marketing/tiktok-statistics ↩︎
  4. Statista, Number of Sent and Received E-mails per Day Worldwide. https://www.statista.com/statistics/456500/daily-number-of-e-mails-worldwide/ ↩︎
  5. EarthWeb, How Many Texts Are Sent Per Day? https://earthweb.com/how-many-texts-are-sent-per-day/ ↩ ↩︎
  6. Axios, reported via TechCrunch, ChatGPT users send 2.5 billion prompts a day, July 2025. https://techcrunch.com/2025/07/21/chatgpt-users-send-2-5-billion-prompts-a-day/ ↩︎
  7. DemandSage, ChatGPT Statistics. https://www.demandsage.com/chatgpt-statistics/ ↩ ↩︎
  8. Domo, Data Never Sleeps: AI Edition, 2025. https://www.domo.com/learn/infographic/data-never-sleeps-ai-edition-2025 ↩︎
  9. Statista, Volume of Data or Information Created, Captured, Copied, and Consumed Worldwide from 2010 to 2029 (in Zettabytes), Nov. 14, 2025. https://www.statista.com/statistics/871513/worldwide-data-created/ ↩︎
  10. Statista, Global Datasphere: Unique & Replicated Data Ratio. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1185888/worldwide-global-datasphere-unique-replicated-data/ ↩︎
  11. Ponemon Institute, Cost of a Data Breach Report 2025 (independent research conducted by Ponemon Institute). https://ponemonsullivanreport.com/2026/01/celebrating-the-20th-anniversary-of-ponemon-institutes-cost-of-data-breach/ ↩︎
  12. Varonis, Data Breach Statistics & Trends. https://www.varonis.com/blog/data-breach-statistics ↩ ↩︎
  13. Secureframe, 110+ Data Breach Statistics to Know for 2026 and Beyond. https://secureframe.com/blog/data-breach-statistics ↩ ↩︎
  14. Verizon, 2026 Data Breach Investigations Report. https://www.verizon.com/business/resources/reports/dbir/ ↩︎

Jeff SchultzAugust 6, 2019
5 minutes read

Jeff Schultz

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