Perplexity × Wikimedia Foundation
AI search company Perplexity was named as a new paid partner of the Wikimedia Foundation on January 15, 2026. [23, 31] The deal grants Perplexity access to the Wikimedia Enterprise API, providing a reliable, structured data feed from Wikipedia to improve the precision and citation quality of its answer engine. [24] The move formalizes Perplexity's use of Wikipedia's content, shifting from scraping to a paid commercial relationship. [27] Financial terms were not disclosed. [31]
The asset
Paid access to a high-volume, real-time feed of content from all Wikimedia projects, including Wikipedia, through the Wikimedia Enterprise API product for use in its AI answer engine.
- 65M articles
- 300 languages
The record
- Seller status
- Going concern
- Sector
- Online encyclopedia / UGC knowledge base
- Modalities
- text, images
- Jurisdiction
- US
What it means if you hold data
As an 'answer engine' that directly competes with traditional search, Perplexity's paid partnership with a primary source like Wikipedia is crucial for its product's credibility. [24] The deal shows that even newer, disruptive AI companies recognize the need to secure and pay for foundational data to ensure quality and sustainability. [26]