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Wikipedia Faces 8% Traffic Drop Amid AI Competition

10/19/2025

Summary

Story summary

The Wikimedia Foundation reports an 8% decline in human traffic to Wikipedia, attributed to AI-generated summaries and social media.
Marshall Miller, a senior director at the Wikimedia Foundation, says search engines provide direct answers, reducing Wikipedia visits.
The decline risks diminishing volunteer contributions and financial support, threatening the platform's reliability.
The foundation paused its AI-summaries pilot after backlash and now focuses on attribution and driving traffic back to Wikipedia.

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Story summary

The Wikimedia Foundation reports an 8% decline in human traffic to Wikipedia, attributed to AI-generated summaries and social media.
Marshall Miller, a senior director at the Wikimedia Foundation, says search engines provide direct answers, reducing Wikipedia visits.
The decline risks diminishing volunteer contributions and financial support, threatening the platform's reliability.
The foundation paused its AI-summaries pilot after backlash and now focuses on attribution and driving traffic back to Wikipedia.