WASHINGTON : The world’s largest crowdsourced online encyclopedia revealed on Thursday that it has signed AI access deals with companies including Microsoft, Meta Platforms, Amazon, Perplexity, and France’s Mistral AI.
The agreements, announced by Wikimedia Foundation, are designed to allow AI firms to access Wikipedia’s vast content “at a volume and speed designed specifically for their needs.” While financial terms were not disclosed, the foundation said the deals will help monetize the heavy traffic generated by AI companies scraping its data.
Once seen as a symbol of the early internet’s open and free ideals, Wikipedia has increasingly found itself at the center of debates over how generative AI systems use publicly available content. Aggressive data collection by AI developers has raised concerns over infrastructure costs, as automated bots place growing strain on Wikipedia’s servers.
Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales said he welcomes collaboration with AI companies but stressed the need for fair compensation. “We want to work with AI companies, not block them,” Wales said, adding that developers should “pay for your fair share of the cost that you’re putting on us.”
The foundation has previously pushed AI firms to access content through its enterprise platform, noting that while human traffic to the site fell by 8% last year, bot activity surged as developers gathered data to train large language models. The trend reflects a broader shift online, where AI-powered search summaries and chatbots increasingly replace traditional link-based browsing.
Wikipedia remains the ninth most visited website globally, hosting more than 65 million articles across 300 languages, written and maintained by around 250,000 volunteers. Although free to use, maintaining the platform’s servers and infrastructure requires substantial funding, most of which comes from roughly 8 million donors worldwide.
Looking ahead, the Wikimedia Foundation says artificial intelligence could also benefit editors and users. Under its AI strategy, tools could be developed to automate routine tasks such as fixing broken links or improving search functionality by moving beyond keyword searches to more conversational, chatbot-style experiences.
Wikipedia celebrates its 25th anniversary by striking AI access deals with tech giants like Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon. These agreements aim to monetize the heavy traffic from AI companies scraping its data, addressing concerns over infrastructure costs. Founder Jimmy Wales emphasizes collaboration with AI firms, advocating for fair compensation to sustain the platform's operations.