Wikipedia partners with Microsoft and Meta for AI content training
What's the story
Wikipedia has announced partnerships with several tech giants, including Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon. The move comes as a major step in the non-profit's efforts to monetize its content. The Wikimedia Foundation, which operates the online encyclopedia, has also signed deals with AI start-up Perplexity and French company Mistral AI over the past year.
Content significance
Wikipedia's content crucial for AI training
Wikipedia's 65 million articles in over 300 languages are critical for training data of generative AI chatbots and assistants. The tech giants have been using this freely available knowledge to train their AI models. However, the practice has increased server demand and costs at the non-profit organization, which primarily relies on small public donations for funding.
Monetization strategy
Wikimedia pushes for enterprise product adoption
In light of the increased server demand and costs, Wikimedia is pushing for greater adoption of its enterprise product. The offering lets tech companies pay for training access to its content while receiving data in a way that meets their large-scale training needs. Lane Becker, president of Wikimedia Enterprise, said these tech companies need to financially support Wikipedia's work.
Recognition
Tech giants recognize need to sustain Wikipedia's work
Becker added that all their Big Tech partners understand the importance of committing to sustain Wikipedia's work. He also said it took some time for them to figure out the right features and functionality needed to move these companies from a free platform to a commercial one. This recognition highlights the growing understanding among tech giants about their role in supporting platforms like Wikipedia financially.
Content creation
Wikipedia's content created by global volunteer editors
Wikipedia's content is created and maintained by around 250,000 volunteer editors from across the globe. These individuals write, edit, and fact-check information on the platform. Microsoft's Corporate Vice President Tim Frank emphasized the importance of high-quality, trustworthy information in AI development. He said their partnership with Wikimedia is aimed at creating a sustainable content ecosystem for the AI internet where contributors are valued.