Aravind Srinivas, co-founder and CEO of Perplexity AI, recently expressed concerns about Wikipedia’s neutrality. In a post on microblogging site X (formerly Twitter) Srinivas stated, “It’s pretty clear that Wikipedia is biased” adding further that he is “happy to support anyone who wants to build an alternative to it that’s more neutral and unbiased..”.
The conversation around Wikipedia’s perceived biases has been ongoing, with various stakeholders advocating for more neutral and comprehensive alternatives. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has previously offered $1 billion to Wikipedia to rename itself ‘Dickipedia’ for a minimum of one year. This proposal was initially made last year and still stands.
Here’s what Perplexity AI CEO wrote
“It’s pretty clear that Wikipedia is biased. I’m happy to support anyone who wants to build an alternative to it that’s more neutral and unbiased using Perplexity APIs. It’s a long project that needs serious commitment. So, please ping if you want to do it,” Srinivas wrote.
When Elon Musk made a ‘Wikipedia request’ to his supporters
In December 2024, called upon his followers to stop donating to the Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit organisation behind Wikipedia, citing concerns over its spending on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives.
Musk’s call came in a post on X where he has nearly 210 million followers. He wrote, “Stop donating to Wokepedia until they restore balance to their editing authority,” responding to a post from the right-wing account “Libs of TikTok.” That post highlighted a pie chart showing that 29% of Wikipedia’s $177 million budget for 2023-24 was allocated to “equity” and “safety & inclusion.”
According to the Wikimedia Foundation, this translates to $51.7 million: $31.2 million (17.6%) for equity and $20.5 million (11.6%) for safety and inclusion. The largest portion of the budget, $86.1 million (48.7%), is allocated to infrastructure, followed by $39.2 million (22.2%) for effectiveness. The foundation clarified that “supporting equity represents the second largest part of our programmatic work, with grants and Movement support representing the majority of the budget within the equity goal.”
