Is matter dead?

Niether the Zigbee or Z-Wave technologies themselves require internet but there are a few closed-source commercial Zigbee / Z-Wave gateways from some vendors that require internet access for various reasons (such as example to getting propritory OTA firmware for their own devices via their own official servers), so it depends on the which Zigbee / Z-Wave gateway(s) you buy and use.

You do not technically need internet for Zigbee or Z-Wave and if you use Home Assistant’s built-in ZHA and Z-Wave JS integrations then there is no need for any internet, (however then you might not get automatic OTA firmware updates for any vendor products that have public OTA provider servers for that). All you need are the correct type of USB radio adapters connected locally. See:

and

Recommend you read related community guides collected in this “The Home Assistant Cookbook” :

PS: Zigbee and Z-Wave technologies both work very similar with thier own local wireless personal area network (WPAN) that have low-power digital radios and MCUs creating local mesh network, see:

and

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