Elon Musk offered $1 billion to Wikipedia, read full news here
Elon Musk, the man behind Tesla and SpaceX, is back in the headlines with an unusual proposal on Wikipedia. The billionaire, known for being active on X (formerly Twitter), offered the popular online encyclopedia a huge sum. Elon Musk offered Wikipedia $1 billion if it changed its name to ‘Dikipedia’. The offer created a global frenzy on X, with users from all corners of the Internet joining in. One user encouraged Wikipedia to accept the challenge. This led Musk to add a twist to the challenge: Wikipedia would have to keep the name for one year. Musk also responded jokingly, “I mean, I’m not an idiot.”
Elon Musk also shared a screenshot of Wikipedia’s home page, boldly declaring, “Wikipedia is not for sale” along with a “personal appeal from Jimmy Wales”. Musk immediately questioned the need for such a large sum of money from the Wikimedia Foundation, especially since the entire text of Wikipedia could fit on a smartphone. Additionally, Musk even questioned whether cow and feces emojis could be added to his Wikipedia page. The hilarious exchange received millions of views and likes on Twitter, surprising many.
While some Twitter users were cautious given Wikipedia’s track record of asking for donations, others found the situation largely akin to a “cage challenge”. Some netizens even suggested buying Wikipedia and letting AI handle updates, while others pointed to Musk as a typical “rich guy.” In an earlier incident, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales had criticized Musk for complying with demands from Turkish authorities to ban content critical of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Musk defended his actions, saying it was a choice between shutting down Twitter completely or limiting access to certain tweets.
It is worth noting that Wikipedia was blocked for more than two years in Turkey due to local regulations deeming it obscene or a threat to national security.
