Wikipedia Secures Funding Deal With Tech Giants

The world's favorite free encyclopedia just secured its future with help from the tech giants that depend on it most.

Wikipedia's parent company Wikimedia announced partnerships with Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, Google, and Perplexity to help sustain the nonprofit's mission. The timing couldn't be better as Wikipedia celebrates its 25th anniversary of delivering free knowledge to billions of people worldwide.

The challenge was real. AI chatbots have been scraping Wikipedia's 65 million articles at enormous volumes to train their systems and answer user questions. While this shows how valuable Wikipedia's content is, it also drove server costs through the roof for the nonprofit organization.

Wikimedia sounded the alarm last year, warning that reduced traffic from AI summaries could threaten the encyclopedia's survival. Instead of blocking these companies or charging exorbitant fees, they found a solution that works for everyone.

The tech companies are now moving from Wikipedia's free platform to enterprise partnerships. They'll get streamlined access through high-performance APIs that can efficiently feed content to their chatbot systems. In return, they're helping cover the costs of maintaining this global knowledge treasure.

"It took us a little while to understand the right set of features and functionality to offer," said Lane Becker, president of Wikimedia Enterprise. "But all our Big Tech partners really see the need for them to commit to sustaining Wikipedia's work."

The Ripple Effect

This partnership model shows how the tech industry can support the commons rather than exploit it. Wikipedia remains free for students, researchers, and curious minds everywhere. The encyclopedia's volunteer editors continue building humanity's shared knowledge without paywalls or subscriptions.

The deal also extends beyond Wikipedia to include Wikivoyage, Wikibooks, Wikiquote, and other Wikimedia projects. These platforms serve millions of users daily, from travelers planning trips to students citing sources for homework.

Twenty-five years after its launch, Wikipedia proves that free knowledge can thrive in the digital age when companies step up to support what they use.