Wikimedia Foundation announces new AI partnerships with Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, Perplexity and others

As part of its 25th birthday celebration, the Wikimedia Foundation announced a series of new partnerships with AI technology companies that are now customers of its commercial product, Wikimedia Enterprise. Developed by the Wikimedia Foundation, it allows the wide reuse and distribution of Wikipedia content, as well as content from other Wikimedia projects.

In addition to the previously announced partnership with Google in 2022, the organization shared publicly for the first time that it has formed other partnerships with Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, Mistral AI, and Perplexity over the past year. Other partnerships, such as Ecosia, Pleias and ProRata, have been mentioned before, but are also included in this announcement, alongside Nomic and Reef Media.

These deals give Wikipedia another way to sustain itself in an era in which much of its content is captured and reused by artificial intelligence models and other technology products and services to provide quick, factual answers to consumer queries. As an enterprise product, Wikimedia Enterprise’s goal isn’t just to make technology companies pay for its use; It also provides them with access to Wikimedia projects at a size and speed designed to meet their data needs.

The foundation also noted in a blog post that Wikipedia today is among the top ten most visited websites in the world, with audiences viewing more than 65 million articles in more than 300 languages, nearly 15 billion times per month.

“Wikipedia shows that knowledge is human, and knowledge needs humans. Especially now, in the age of artificial intelligence, we need knowledge powered by the human power of Wikipedia more than ever,” Selena Dickelmann, chief operating officer/technology officer at the Wikimedia Foundation, noted in a statement. “With the continuing help of readers, volunteer editors, donors, partners, and fans around the world, Wikipedia will remain the essential center of online knowledge and collaboration for the next 25 years and beyond.”

In addition to announcing the technology deals, the Foundation launched a birthday campaign, which includes a new video documentary series offering a behind-the-scenes look at Wikipedia volunteers around the world. It has also launched a time capsule titled “25 Years of Wikipedia” exploring the site’s past, present and future, with some narration provided by founder Jimmy Wales. The organization will also celebrate with a live-streamed birthday event, on January 15, at 4:00 PM UTC, with guests, games and entertainment. The event can be found on Wikipedia’s YouTube, TikTok and Instagram channels.

Additionally, the organization’s birthday announcements highlighted other recent developments, such as upgrades to its technical infrastructure, its own approach to artificial intelligence, new experiences like gaming, short-form video, and more.