Wikipedia, long regarded as the crown jewel of the open internet, finds itself facing an existential dilemma in the age of misinformation, AI, and increasing political interference. Founded in 2001 by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger, the website has served for over two decades as a bastion of clear, collaborative, and supposedly unbiased information. But in 2025, its future feels increasingly uncertain.
Once the seventh most visited website globally, Wikipedia has recently slipped to eighth place, overtaken by OpenAI’s ChatGPT. While this might seem trivial, it marks a broader shift in how people access information. Rather than clicking through to Wikipedia articles, users now receive AI-generated summaries based heavily on Wikipedia’s content — all without ever visiting the site itself. “Our number of potential customers has definitely been expanding,” notes Lane Becker, president of Wikimedia LLC, the for-profit arm of the Wikimedia Foundation. “And largely thanks to AI.” But with fewer page views comes fewer donations — the lifeblood of Wikipedia’s non-profit model.
And it couldn’t come at a worse time. In an era defined by misinformation, propaganda, and deepfake technology, a volunteer-led platform with transparent editorial oversight would seem more vital than ever. Yet Wikipedia is facing increasing hostility from multiple fronts. As authoritarian regimes tighten their grip on online discourse, many governments are attempting to manipulate what Wikipedia says about them — sometimes through outright censorship, other times through more insidious edits. Simultaneously, global trust in once-revered institutions has crumbled, leaving Wikipedia vulnerable to accusations of bias and elitism.
Even tech titans have weighed in. Elon Musk, never one to pass on a Twitter spat, has accused the encyclopaedia of “wokeness”, going so far as to dub it “Wokepedia” after it was revealed that the Wikimedia Foundation had allocated over $50 million towards diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. Musk’s criticism, while pointed, resonated with many disillusioned with what they see as ideological tilt. Others, however, viewed it as an attack on Wikipedia’s efforts to improve representation and accessibility.
And then there’s the issue of political tampering. The 2022 kerfuffle over the definition of “economic recession” — where edits to the page were allegedly made to protect President Biden from criticism — stirred serious controversy. Wikipedia’s neutral stance was questioned, and accusations of partisan meddling flew. Notably, co-founder Larry Sanger has called for an official investigation into government interference on the site, urging Musk and former President Trump to look into whether public money was being used to fund politically motivated edits.
Despite these controversies, Wikipedia’s influence remains undeniable. Political consultants often require a working knowledge of the platform’s structure, and Wikipedia pages can shape public perception of individuals, institutions, and ideologies. Its decline, if it were to happen, would leave a vacuum in the online knowledge ecosystem — one potentially filled by AI, where content lacks transparency and editorial accountability.
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So what can Wikipedia do?
Some suggest monetisation, through advertising, sponsored content, or even a subscription model. Others recommend expanding editorial participation to encourage a broader range of contributors. But each solution comes with significant drawbacks — from fears over compromised neutrality to the risk of diluting the rigorous editorial standards that have earned Wikipedia its authority.
The deeper issue is trust. In a splintered media landscape, Wikipedia must remind users why its system of consensus-driven editing and open-source citations is preferable to algorithmic guesswork and AI hallucinations. It must double down on transparency, resist political pressure, and reinforce its core mission: to be a free, reliable source of information for everyone, everywhere.
Whether it can weather the storm remains to be seen. But if Wikipedia is to survive the post-truth era, it must do more than evolve. It must prove that, even in 2025, facts still matter.
