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Wikipedia Lands Big Tech Deals for AI Content
15 Jan
Summary
- Wikipedia secured partnerships with Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon.
- Tech firms pay for content access to train AI models.
- This initiative addresses increased server costs due to AI training.
Wikimedia, the operator of Wikipedia, has announced major partnerships with Big Tech firms such as Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon. These collaborations also include AI startups like Perplexity and Mistral AI, building upon an existing arrangement with Google. These companies heavily rely on Wikipedia's extensive content, comprising 65 million articles across over 300 languages, for training their generative AI models.
The increased demand for Wikipedia's freely available knowledge for AI training has significantly driven up server costs for the non-profit. To address this financial strain, Wikimedia has been promoting its enterprise product, enabling tech companies to pay for structured access to its content for large-scale training needs.
Lane Becker, president of Wikimedia Enterprise, emphasized the need for tech companies to financially support Wikipedia's ongoing work. Microsoft's Corporate Vice President, Tim Frank, stated that these partnerships help create a sustainable content ecosystem for the AI internet, valuing contributors. This development comes as Bernadette Meehan is set to become Wikimedia's new chief executive on January 20.
