Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon are paying up for ‘enterprise’ access to Wikipedia

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Big Tech funds Wikipedia because they're big users

Wikipedia insignia
(Image credit: Shutterstock.com / Tero Vesalainen)
  • Big Tech, AI firms, and search engines all help to fund Wikipedia
  • The Wikimedia Foundation has seven data centers globally
  • Perplexity has gifted Wikipedia editors 2,500 free Enterprise seats

Tech giants including Ecosia, Microsoft, Mistral AI, Perplexity, Pleias, and ProRata are some of the latest companies to have signed up to pay the Wikimedia Foundation an undisclosed amount for premium access to Wikipedia content, the body announced in a post to commemorate its 25-year anniversary.

Amazon, Google, and Meta, some of the Foundation's earlier members, have already been using the commercial API to to "access content from Wikimedia projects at a volume and speed."

This revenue is designed to support Wikimedia's nonprofit mission and long-term sustainability, but there's also a bigger AI story at play.

Wikimedia funded by Big Tech subscriptions

The Foundation stressed AI firms rely heavily on Wikipedia, so have a vested interest in keeping it funded. Considered a core dataset for LLM training, Wikipedia is partly responsible for powering chatbots, search engines, and voice assistants globally.

Wikimedia Foundation CPO/CTO Selena Deckelmann stressed the importance of Wikipedia's "human-powered knowledge" in the era of AI. "Wikipedia shows that knowledge is human, and knowledge needs humans."

In a post remarking Wikimedia's 25th anniversary, Perplexity noted it would be gifting 2,500 Enterprise seats to Wikipedia editors to show its appreciation for their output.

There are an estimated 250,000 volunteer editors contributing to the platform, which launched in 2001.

Wikimedia now has seven operational data centers (per its own data), though none trace their roots back to its 2001 inception – that one closed in 2004. The most recent, located in São Paulo, Brazil, has been credited with improving load times for the nation's citizens by one-third of a second.

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Craig Hale
Craig Hale

With several years’ experience freelancing in tech and automotive circles, Craig’s specific interests lie in technology that is designed to better our lives, including AI and ML, productivity aids, and smart fitness. He is also passionate about cars and the decarbonisation of personal transportation. As an avid bargain-hunter, you can be sure that any deal Craig finds is top value!

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