Wikipedia has unveiled new commercial partnerships with several major technology companies, including Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon, marking a significant shift in how the non-profit seeks to be compensated for the use of its content in artificial intelligence systems.
The Wikimedia Foundation, which operates the online encyclopedia, said on Thursday that it has also signed agreements over the past year with AI-focused companies such as Perplexity and France’s Mistral AI. Meta and Amazon were already partners, while Google’s parent company Alphabet, entered into a similar arrangement with Wikimedia in 2022.
The move comes after Wikimedia repeatedly raised concerns about technology companies using Wikipedia’s freely available content to train AI models without contributing financially, a practice it said has increased server traffic and operating costs. Wikipedia hosts more than 65 million articles across over 300 languages, making it one of the most important sources of training data for generative AI tools developed by major tech firms.
Wikimedia has been promoting wider adoption of its Wikimedia Enterprise product, which allows companies to pay for structured, large-scale access to its content tailored for AI training and commercial use.
“Wikipedia is a critical component of these tech companies’ work that they need to figure out how to support financially,” said Lane Becker, president of Wikimedia Enterprise, in an interview with Reuters. He added that the organisation had refined its commercial offering to encourage companies to move from free scraping to paid access.
The partnerships aim to create a more sustainable funding model for Wikipedia, whose primary income still comes from small public donations. The platform’s content is written, edited and fact-checked by about 250,000 volunteer contributors worldwide.
Microsoft said the agreement reflects a broader effort to support reliable information sources as AI systems become more widespread. “Access to high-quality, trustworthy information is at the heart of how we think about the future of AI,” said Tim Frank, Microsoft’s corporate vice president, adding that the partnership would help ensure contributors are valued within the AI ecosystem.
The Wikimedia Foundation also announced leadership changes, naming former U.S. Ambassador to Chile Bernadette Meehan as its new chief executive, effective January 20, following her appointment reported by Reuters last month.
