Wikipedia extension collaborates with AI giants to ensure sustainable content development

Source: CritpoTendencia Original Title: Wikipedia Expands Agreements with AI Giants to Ensure Sustainable Content Development Original Link:

Wikipedia Extends Collaboration Agreements with AI Giants to Ensure Sustainable Content Development

The Wikimedia Foundation, the organization behind Wikipedia, is expanding its collaboration agreements with major tech companies in the field of artificial intelligence. This strategy allows the platform to derive direct revenue from AI companies using its content, which is crucial for training numerous advanced models.

This Thursday, Wikipedia confirmed that its collaboration agreements with top tech companies such as Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon have been extended. According to reports, these agreements will enable monetization of encyclopedia articles. This is a significant step for this non-profit organization, which has traditionally relied on user donations for operation.

These agreements supplement previous deals with AI model developers like Perplexity and Mistral AI. Since last year, the organization has been forming alliances with multiple industry participants to ensure that AI advancements bring balanced benefits to all parties. The most notable agreement is with Alphabet (Google’s parent company), which has been in effect since 2022.

Wikipedia’s expansion of its AI model agreements is particularly relevant. As mentioned earlier, the platform is a key source for training AI systems, with over 65 million articles across more than 300 languages.

Wikipedia Agreement Ensures More Reliable AI

Continuing to use Wikipedia content to train large AI models represents a positive development. It helps ensure systems are more reliable, considering the platform’s strict verification processes for editors and contributors, who are responsible for correcting errors and continuously fact-checking published information.

This is crucial for preventing AI models from sourcing information from unreliable or low-quality sources. According to reports, large-scale and free use of Wikipedia content significantly increases operational costs for this non-profit organization.

In this context, signing agreements with major AI companies becomes essential for ensuring long-term sustainability. This strategy aligns with the Wikimedia Foundation’s goal of promoting responsible adoption of its content by key players in the tech industry.

“Wikipedia is a fundamental component of these tech companies’ work; they need to find ways to financially support it,” said Lane Becker, head of Wikimedia Enterprise.

From Free Service to Agreements with AI Companies

According to Becker, these agreements have a significant impact on Wikipedia. “We’ve taken the time to understand what the right set of features should be if we are to transition these companies from our free platform into a commercial environment,” he said.

He also pointed out that all major tech companies have accepted these agreements and support the necessary backing for Wikipedia’s work. The encyclopedia’s content is the result of contributions, editing, and verification by nearly 250,000 volunteers.