News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Wikipedia says traffic is falling due to AI search summar... by NewsaHackO on Tuesday October 21, 2025 @03:39PM (#45660642)
Am I misssing something or is Wikipedia net positive 200M? If this is true, that's eye opening. Weird given how much they beg for money on every article.
Re:Wikipedia says traffic is falling due to AI search summar... by andersa on Tuesday October 21, 2025 @04:22PM (#45661190)
The amount of money moving through Wikipedia is absolutely mind blowing, and next to none of that is even being used to sustain the site. Hope those still donating to it feel smart about what they're supporting...
Re:Wikipedia says traffic is falling due to AI search summar... by SchemaLoad on Tuesday October 21, 2025 @08:56PM (#45663752)
Still a drop in the bucket compared to the money going in to AI companies off the back of wikipedia data.
Re:Wikipedia says traffic is falling due to AI search summar... by insane_dreamer on Wednesday October 22, 2025 @11:03AM (#45670228)
Because that's how you build up a foundation that will be self-sustaining when the donations run out.

It's not a bad strategy. I've looked at Wikimedia's financial statements and have no problem giving a small monthly amount to them considering how much value I get from the site.

I certainly prefer my money going to them than to Zuckerberg or Altman or MSFT shareholders.

Re:Wikipedia says traffic is falling due to AI search summar... by int_19h on Wednesday October 22, 2025 @11:27PM (#45677867)
The real question, given how handy Wikipedia is as training data, is why it's your money going to them, and not Zuckerberg's or Altman's or Nadella's.
Re:Wikipedia says traffic is falling due to AI search summar... by dghlsakjg on Tuesday October 21, 2025 @05:39PM (#45662058)
They have that much in assets. I'm not sure what that actually looks like in terms of cash vs. non-liquid assets vs. assets with strings attached.

If you look at revenue vs spend they are net positive by about 7mm last year.

Re:Wikipedia says traffic is falling due to AI search summar... by cg5280 on Tuesday October 21, 2025 @05:58PM (#45662250)
You aren't missing anything. This has been an increasingly popular criticism of Wikipedia. They are doing just fine financially.
Re:Wikipedia says traffic is falling due to AI search summar... by xeonmc on Wednesday October 22, 2025 @02:34AM (#45665568)
The Mozilla playbook, I see.
Re:Wikipedia says traffic is falling due to AI search summar... by mrweasel on Wednesday October 22, 2025 @03:19AM (#45665828)
Mozilla doesn't have any money... do they?
Re:Wikipedia says traffic is falling due to AI search summar... by lurk2 on Tuesday October 21, 2025 @08:17PM (#45663494)