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


Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, Perplexity, and Mistral AI have joined Google in paying the Wikimedia Foundation for access to its projects, including Wikipedia’s vast collection of articles. The Wikimedia Foundation announced the news as part of Wikipedia’s 25th anniversary on Thursday.

The partnerships are part of Wikimedia Enterprise, an initiative launched in 2021 that gives large companies access to a premium version of Wikipedia’s API for a fee. Lane Becker, the Wikimedia Foundation’s senior director of earned revenue, tells The Verge that the program offers a version of Wikipedia “tuned” for commercial use and AI companies. “We take feature requests, we build features and functionality, and sort of try to structure the data in ways that support what these companies’ needs are,” Becker says.

The Wikimedia Foundation says Microsoft, Perplexity, and Mistral AI joined the Enterprise program “over the past year.” Though the company lists Meta and Amazon as “existing” partners, this is the first time they’ve been announced publicly. The funds collected as part of Wikimedia Enterprise go toward supporting the nonprofit’s projects, which Becker says can help it establish a more sustainable business.

“It is in every AI company’s best interest to support the long-term sustainability of Wikipedia, because Wikipedia and all the other projects that we support are so core to their business,” Becker says. “Getting to a new sustainable equilibrium with these new companies is critical for our continued existence, but for their continued existence as well.”



Source link

  • Related Posts

    Alex Jones has uncovered another massive conspiracy

    Alex Jones may soon lose Infowars, the digital perch that he’s used for decades to traffic in conspiracy theories, to The Onion, the satirical newspaper. But not before he’s uncovered…

    FCC: Router ban includes portable hotspots, but not phones with hotspot features

    The Federal Communications Commission clarified this week that its sweeping ban on foreign-made consumer routers also affects portable hotspot devices. The FCC added a new section to an FAQ titled,…

    Leave a Reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    You Missed

    OpenAI’s Sam Altman writes apology to community of Tumbler Ridge

    OpenAI’s Sam Altman writes apology to community of Tumbler Ridge

    The Surprising Cost Of The Airbus A350-1000’s Fuel Consumption During Takeoff

    The Surprising Cost Of The Airbus A350-1000’s Fuel Consumption During Takeoff

    Alex Jones has uncovered another massive conspiracy

    Alex Jones has uncovered another massive conspiracy

    In 8 weeks, the Iran war has dented the U.S. economy. The damage could linger, economists say.

    In 8 weeks, the Iran war has dented the U.S. economy. The damage could linger, economists say.

    Trump embraced the gambling industry for decades. Now he’s hedging his bet on prediction markets.

    Trump embraced the gambling industry for decades. Now he’s hedging his bet on prediction markets.

    Chinese bid for UK chemical plant condemned as threat to competition