Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon are paying up for ‘enterprise’ access to Wikipedia (www.techradar.com)

Major tech firms including Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon have begun paying the Wikimedia Foundation for 'enterprise' access to Wikipedia, a move announced as part of the foundation's 25th anniversary celebrations. This funding, aimed at ensuring the sustainability of Wikipedia as a key resource, reflects the increasing reliance of AI platforms and search engines on Wikipedia's content for training large language models (LLMs), chatbots, and other AI applications. The Wikimedia Foundation highlights that the human-driven knowledge on Wikipedia is integral to fostering innovation in the AI sector. Additionally, AI company Perplexity has contributed by providing 2,500 free Enterprise seats to Wikipedia editors, recognizing their crucial role in generating and maintaining the platform's wealth of information. With approximately 250,000 volunteer editors, Wikipedia remains a foundational dataset for AI development. The Wikimedia Foundation operates seven data centers worldwide, enhancing access and performance, especially with their latest data center in São Paulo, which has improved load times in Brazil significantly. This partnership between Wikimedia and leading tech companies underscores a mutual dependency that is pivotal for both the sustainability of Wikipedia and the advancement of AI technologies.