Wikipedia at 25: can its original ideals survive AI?

Wikipedia launched in January 2001 and has grown into a globally used, volunteer-edited encyclopedia; recent AI competitors such as Grokipedia, launched in October 2025, have expanded rapidly and prompted debate about the role of human editing and AI.

Wikipedia began on 15 January 2001 and was later stewarded by the Wikimedia Foundation created two years after its founding. The site was built on volunteer editing, public revision histories and principles like verifiability and neutrality. Over 25 years this model has faced recurring credibility tests and new pressure from generative AI systems. Key facts: - Wikipedia launched on 15 January 2001 and the Wikimedia Foundation was established two years later. - Statista estimates about 4.4 billion people accessed Wikipedia in 2024, and more than 125 million people have edited at least one entry. - The Wikimedia Foundation reports total assets of more than US$310 million. - Grokipedia, an AI-generated encyclopedia, launched on 27 October 2025 and had grown to over 5.6 million entries; Wikipedia counts over 7.1 million entries. - Editors have reported AI-written additions and plausible but incorrect citations, prompting efforts such as WikiProject AI Cleanup. - Historic credibility incidents cited include the Seigenthaler biography hoax and the Essjay controversy, and there have been past conflicts of interest linked to paid editing. Summary: Wikipedia's volunteer-driven model has produced a widely used public resource but faces fresh tests from generative AI systems that repurpose human-created content at scale. Undetermined at this time.