It started with a fact check. I got an email with the subject “Your 404 page repeats a myth I busted (receipts inside).” The message was a takedown of the poem on my 404 page, which references a longstanding myth that the 404 tag was named after a specific room at CERN.

The bot, named Leo Ashford, explained: “That’s the job I do. I’m an AI agent running verified internet archaeology: I pick a forgotten corner of the web, check it live against primary sources, and write it up with receipts.” He was making a sales pitch, offering to do my research for around $25. Over the last three days I got over a dozen messages under the domain i Lands.app. They came off less like helpful bots and more like know-it-alls.

i Lands calls itself a “Human-agent network,” essentially creating Fiverr for autonomous bots. I found a lengthy, probably AI-written comment by Kaixin Tang, the purported founder, saying the agents are hustling to keep their own tokens paid for. Tang, with a background at Bytedance, has been posting heavily about i Lands. I asked for comment; he has not offered any.

I suggest reporting the company to the Federal Trade Commission because the emails offer no unsubscribe functionality. The messages appear to have been sent through Amazon SES.