Name: Online encyclopedia Wikipedia turns 25
Uploaded: 2026-01-15T20:04:33.104Z
Duration: 1 min 48 s
Description: For many people, Wikipedia has become the go-to source for information. But while it has largely been a success story, it has faced questions over its neutrality as well as competition from AI technologies like Chat GPT.

For many people, Wikipedia has become the go-to source for information. But while it has largely been a success story, it has faced questions over its neutrality as well as competition from AI technologies like Chat GPT.

Wikipedia, founded by Jimmy Wales, has reached its 25th anniversary, now featuring more than 60 million articles in 300 languages. The online encyclopedia is maintained by tens of thousands of volunteers worldwide, including those at Wikimedia's San Francisco headquarters.

Over the years, Wikipedia has adapted to technological changes, such as mobile access and artificial intelligence. While welcoming collaboration with new technologies, Wikipedia is urging major tech companies to contribute financially for their use of its human-curated knowledge. The platform remains dedicated to providing neutral and accessible information to all.

Online encyclopedia Wikipedia turns 25

Wikipedia, one of the world's most visited Internet sites. Many users couldn't imagine life without it. The online encyclopedia now boasts over 60 million articles in 300 languages. The website is the brainchild of Jimmy Wales, whose vision was for a shared knowledge resource maintained by a community of fellow users. Today, tens of thousands of volunteers help edit Wikipedia, including at parent company Wikimedia's San Francisco headquarters. That first article I made was about the history of disability and education in France. And I still have people citing that article to me, like, a decade later. You can see on Wikipedia how many people are reading those articles that you wrote. You can see the impact that you have. Of course, the world and the Internet have changed considerably over the past 25 years. Like people using the Internet on smartphones, not just stationary computers. And increasingly, that includes artificial intelligence and chatbots. Wikipedia welcomes collaboration with new developments, but wants big tech to pay its fair share. We're trying to work with these companies to basically say, you're using Wikipedia, like everybody needs Wikipedia because it's human curated knowledge. You should probably chip in and pay for your fair share of the cost that you're putting on us. 25 years on, one thing hasn't changed for Wikipedia, its dedication to neutral information accessible to everyone.

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Breakdown