Wikipedia Partners with Tech Giants to Ensure Fair Compensation for AI Content Use

Wikipedia, the world's largest free online encyclopedia, announces new partnerships with Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft. The deals aim to ensure that these tech giants pay a 'fair share' for the extensive use of Wikipedia’s content in their artificial intelligence (AI) models.

Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia, states that large language models have been 'hammering' Wikipedia’s servers. He encourages these companies to sign up for and use Wikipedia Enterprise, a commercial product that allows the reuse and distribution of Wikipedia’s content to AI firms.

Pressure on Wikipedia’s Infrastructure

The Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit organization behind Wikipedia, has traditionally relied on donations from millions of individuals. These donations are intended to support free access for readers, not to underwrite commercial AI development.

“They're not donating in order to subsidise these huge AI companies,” Wales said. “They're saying, 'You know what, actually, you can’t just smash our website. You have to sort of come in the right way.'”

Industry Context and Impact

Automated systems, such as large language models (LLMs), are now among the biggest users of Wikipedia’s content, placing sustained pressure on its servers. Maryana Iskander, CEO of the Wikimedia Foundation, notes that people are becoming more reliant on Wikipedia at a time when AI tools are also using it to provide answers.

Wales emphasizes the need for AI companies to contribute more to Wikipedia’s upkeep. “We're trying to work with these companies to basically say, you're using Wikipedia, like everybody needs Wikipedia because it's human-curated knowledge, you should probably chip in and pay for your fair share of the cost that you're putting on us,” he said.

Wikipedia already has an arrangement with Google, announced in 2022, and other agreements with smaller AI players such as Anthropic, Perplexity, and France's Mistral AI, as well as search engine Ecosia.

Future Outlook

The new partnerships with Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft are part of a broader strategy to ensure that the financial burden of supporting Wikipedia’s infrastructure is shared more equitably. As AI continues to evolve and become more integrated into daily life, the sustainability of open-source platforms like Wikipedia will be crucial.

References

• Wikipedia signs deals with Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, saying AI firms should pay 'fair share' | Euronews