Wikipedia urges AI companies to use its paid API, and stop scraping

Wikipedia is drawing a line in the sand for AI developers.
In a new blog post published Monday, the Wikimedia Foundation — the nonprofit that operates the free online encyclopedia — called on AI companies to use its content “responsibly” by providing clear attribution and accessing data through its paid Wikimedia Enterprise platform rather than scraping the website directly.

The message comes as Wikipedia’s human traffic has fallen by 8% year-over-year, even as AI companies increasingly rely on its vast library of information to train large language models.

A Paid Model for Responsible AI Access

The Wikimedia Foundation’s Enterprise platform enables organisations to utilise Wikipedia’s content at scale without overloading its servers. The Foundation emphasised that the paid model isn’t just about infrastructure — it’s a way for AI companies to support Wikipedia’s nonprofit mission while maintaining data accuracy.

The post stopped short of threatening legal action but noted that AI bots have been disguising themselves as human users to bypass detection systems and scrape data. Earlier this year, the Foundation stated that a surge in web traffic during May and June was attributed to AI bots attempting to evade detection, rather than genuine visitors.

Attribution and Transparency

Wikipedia’s latest statement urges AI developers to credit human contributors and link back to the sources, allowing users to verify the information.

“For people to trust information shared on the internet, platforms should make it clear where the information is sourced from,” the Foundation wrote.
“With fewer visits to Wikipedia, fewer volunteers may grow and enrich the content, and fewer individual donors may support this work.”

The organisation is effectively warning that the AI boom could undermine Wikipedia’s community-driven ecosystem if developers fail to give proper credit and compensation.

Wikipedia’s Own AI Strategy

Earlier this year, Wikimedia unveiled an AI strategy for its editors, focused on improving workflows — not replacing humans. The plan includes using AI to assist with repetitive editorial tasks, automated translation, and content moderation, helping contributors manage the platform’s 65 million articles more efficiently.

Rather than fighting AI outright, Wikipedia wants to shape how it’s used — ensuring that AI tools help humans, rather than exploit their work.