Archive · 16 Jan 2026
Wikipedia Celebrates 25 Years with AI Deals
Wikipedia is celebrating its 25th anniversary by making new deals with big tech companies like Amazon and Microsoft.
For years, these companies have used Wikipedia's articles for free to train their AI.
Now, Wikipedia wants them to pay for using their information.
The founder, Jimmy Wales, supports this because he believes Wikipedia's content is reliable and neutral, unlike content from social media.
The money from these deals will help keep Wikipedia running.
They also launched a digital time capsule and a docuseries about volunteer editors.
Wikipedia is changing its leader soon, and these new deals are important for their future.
Wikipedia celebrated its 25th anniversary by announcing new commercial partnerships with major AI companies.
Big Tech companies like Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, Perplexity, and Mistral AI have joined the 'Wikimedia Enterprise' platform.
These deals aim to monetize the heavy traffic generated by AI companies using Wikipedia's data.
Wikipedia reported an 8% drop in human traffic over the past year, partly due to AI chatbots providing direct answers.
The foundation is preparing for a leadership transition on January 20, 2026, with Bernadette Meehan replacing Maryana Iskander.
- Who
- Wikipedia (Wikimedia Foundation) and Big Tech companies (Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, Mistral AI, Perplexity)
- What
- Wikipedia is expanding commercial partnerships with AI companies to monetize data usage
- When
- Announced on January 15, 2026, with leadership transition on January 20, 2026
- Where
- Globally, with a focus on the AI and tech industry
- Why
- To ensure Big Tech contributes to the cost of maintaining Wikipedia's infrastructure and to address the 8% drop in human traffic
- Anniversary Date
- January 15, 2026
- New Commercial Partners
- Amazon, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Mistral AI, Perplexity
- Wikipedia Articles
- 65 million across 300 languages
- Human Traffic Drop
- 8% over the past year
- Leadership Transition
- Maryana Iskander to Bernadette Meehan on January 20, 2026
- Wikipedia's Goal
- Ensure Big Tech pays for data usage
- Founder's Concern
- Models trained on social media may create 'angry AI'
- Wikipedia's Funding
- 8 million donors, mostly individuals
Sources
Charging The Bots: Wikipedia Turns 25, Finally Decides To Send Big Tech The Bill
Wikipedia Inks AI Deals With Microsoft, Meta And Perplexity
Wikipedia signs AI deal with Amazon, Meta, Microsoft and Perplexity on 25th anniversary: Here's what this means
