Last Updated:
For years, AI developers have scraped Wikipedia’s 65 million articles across 300 languages for free to train Large Language Models (LLMs)
As the foundation prepares for a leadership transition on January 20, when outgoing CEO Maryana Iskander will be replaced by Bernadette Meehan, these AI deals serve as a cornerstone for Wikipedia’s future sustainability. File image
Wikipedia, the world’s largest online encyclopedia, celebrated its 25th anniversary on Thursday by announcing a significant expansion of its commercial partnerships with the artificial intelligence sector. Marking two and a half decades since its founding in 2001, the Wikimedia Foundation revealed new business deals with several industry leaders, including Amazon, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Perplexity, and the French AI startup Mistral AI. These companies have joined the “Wikimedia Enterprise” platform, a commercial arm designed to provide large-scale reusers with high-speed, structured access to the site’s vast repository of human-curated knowledge.
The move signals a strategic shift for the nonprofit as it seeks to monetise the heavy traffic generated by AI companies. For years, AI developers have scraped Wikipedia’s 65 million articles across 300 languages for free to train Large Language Models (LLMs). However, the foundation has recently sounded the alarm over the “relentless” strain this puts on its infrastructure. By formalising these relationships, the foundation ensures that “Big Tech” contributes to the cost of maintaining the servers and volunteers that make the data possible. While Google was one of the first to sign such an agreement in 2022, the 2026 expansion covers almost every major player in the current AI boom.
Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales expressed his support for AI training during anniversary interviews, noting that he personally welcomes models trained on Wikipedia because the content is human-curated and neutral. He famously contrasted this with models trained on social media platforms like X, which he described as potentially creating “a very angry AI”. Wales emphasised that the goal is not to block tech companies but to ensure they “chip in and pay their fair share”. This revenue is becoming increasingly critical as the foundation reported an 8 per cent drop in human traffic over the past year—a trend attributed to AI chatbots providing direct answers instead of referring users to Wikipedia’s links.
The anniversary celebrations also featured the launch of a digital “time capsule” and a docuseries profiling eight volunteer editors, including Dr Netha Hussain, an Indian medical doctor recognised for her vital contributions to COVID-19 information. As the foundation prepares for a leadership transition on 20 January, when outgoing CEO Maryana Iskander will be replaced by Bernadette Meehan, these AI deals serve as a cornerstone for Wikipedia’s future sustainability. By marrying its early-internet vision of open knowledge with the commercial realities of the AI age, Wikipedia aims to remain a trusted, human-powered hub for the next 25 years.
January 16, 2026, 06:00 IST
Read More
