Wikipedia is redefining how large technology companies financially support the vast pool of knowledge that underpins modern artificial intelligence. The Wikimedia Foundation has announced new partnerships with Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, Perplexity, and France-based Mistral AI, expanding its roster of paid collaborators beyond Google, which entered into a similar arrangement in 2022. The move marks a decisive shift toward monetising enterprise-scale use of Wikipedia’s content, which spans over 65 million articles in more than 300 languages and serves as a foundational training resource for generative AI models.
As AI developers increasingly rely on freely accessible online knowledge, Wikimedia has faced a sharp rise in server usage and operational costs. This pressure has intensified even as the organisation continues to depend largely on public donations to fund its operations. To address this imbalance, the foundation is accelerating adoption of Wikimedia Enterprise, a commercial offering that provides structured, high-volume access to Wikipedia content specifically designed for large-scale 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. “It took us a little while to understand the right set of features and functionality to offer if we’re going to move these companies from our free platform to a commercial platform… but all our Big Tech partners really see the need for them to commit to sustaining Wikipedia’s work.” The paid model is intended to ensure predictable revenue while preserving Wikipedia’s open-access principles for the general public.
Technology companies involved in the partnerships have framed the agreements as part of a broader responsibility to support trustworthy information online. “Access to high-quality, trustworthy information is at the heart of how we think about the future of AI at Microsoft … (With Wikimedia), we’re helping create a sustainable content ecosystem for the AI internet, where contributors are valued,” said Tim Frank, corporate vice president at Microsoft.
Despite the growing commercial relationships, Wikimedia’s content continues to be created, edited, and verified by roughly 250,000 volunteer editors around the world. Their work remains central to the platform’s credibility and reach. The announcement also comes amid a leadership transition at the foundation, with former US Ambassador to Chile Bernadette Meehan set to assume the role of chief executive on January 20.
Together, the new partnerships signal a broader recalibration in the AI ecosystem, where the open knowledge powering intelligent systems is increasingly recognised as infrastructure that must be actively sustained, not passively consumed.
