The reason given for Amazon’s donation to the work of the online encyclopedia is a reflection of the contribution that Wikipedia has made to Alexa’s success. Wikipedia provides much of the knowledge base of the virtual assistant, with the platform reciting facts in response to a relevant “Ask Alexa” question.
Wikipedia, according to the site itself, is “a multilingual, web-based, free encyclopedia based on a model of openly editable content. It is the largest and most popular general reference work on the Internet.” Wikipedia was launched in 2001 by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger.
Wikipedia is funded primarily through small donations from the public, the majority of which are very small, typically around $30 or less. Funding is provided via the not-for-profit Wikimedia Foundation. The foundation was founded in 2003 by Wales as a way to fund Wikipedia and its sister projects like Wiktionary and Wikisource.
Expanding on the reason for backing Wikiepdia, a spokesperson from Amazon told TechCrunch: “Alexa leverages hundreds of sources to answer questions, including Wikipedia. The Alexa team shares a similar vision with Wikipedia and the Wikimedia Foundation: To make it easier to share knowledge globally.”
TechCrunch points out that the phrase “hundreds of sources” downplays the contribution that Wikipedia makes to Alexa’s knowledge base, given that Wikipedia actually provides the bulk of the answers given to questions. This aside, Amazon appears willing to promote Wikipedia further by adding a new Alexa command: “Alexa donate to Wikipedia,” thereby allowing Alexa users to make contributions.
