Wikimedia Foundation’s 25th Anniversary: New AI Partnerships with Tech Giants
Celebrating its 25th anniversary, the Wikimedia Foundation has unveiled a series of strategic partnerships with leading AI technology companies, enhancing the reach and utility of its commercial product, Wikimedia Enterprise. This initiative is designed to facilitate large-scale reuse and distribution of content from Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects.
Building upon its 2022 collaboration with Google, the Foundation has now partnered with Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, Mistral AI, and Perplexity over the past year. These alliances aim to provide AI models and technology services with access to Wikimedia’s vast repository of information, ensuring that users receive accurate and timely responses to their inquiries.
Wikimedia Enterprise is not merely a revenue-generating endeavor; it offers tech companies access to Wikimedia projects at a scale and speed tailored to their data requirements. This approach underscores the Foundation’s commitment to sustaining its operations in an era where AI models increasingly rely on its content.
Wikipedia remains among the top 10 most-visited websites globally, with over 65 million articles in more than 300 languages, attracting nearly 15 billion views monthly. Selena Deckelmann, Wikimedia Foundation’s Chief Product and Technology Officer, emphasized the enduring importance of human-driven knowledge in the age of AI, stating, Wikipedia shows that knowledge is human, and knowledge needs humans. Especially now, in the age of AI, we need the human-powered knowledge of Wikipedia more than ever.
In addition to these partnerships, the Foundation has launched a birthday campaign featuring a video docuseries that offers a behind-the-scenes look at Wikipedia volunteers worldwide. A 25 Years of Wikipedia time capsule has also been introduced, exploring the site’s past, present, and future, with narration by founder Jimmy Wales. A livestreamed birthday event is scheduled for January 15 at 4:00 p.m. UTC, accessible on Wikipedia’s YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram channels.
The Foundation’s recent announcements also highlight advancements such as upgrades to its technological infrastructure, its unique approach to AI, and new experiments like games and short-form video content.
