Lane Becker
President, Wikimedia Enterprise
Wikimedia Foundation
October 28–30 · Vancouver
Portrait: ZMcCune (WMF) · CC BY-SA 4.0. Portrait adapted with AI-generated scenery and lettering. Adapted artwork shared under the same license.
What it actually costs to keep Wikipedia free while everything trains on it, and who is currently paying.
Thu 29 · 11:40 AM–12:00 PM
Will Wikimedia Survive the Age of AI
Session details →Vancouver time · Times may change
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The cost of ‘free’
His July 2026 case that companies built on Wikipedia should pay for the servers, capped so small donors still carry most of the load.
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Wikimedia Enterprise
The product he runs. Five years in, commercial reusers pay for Wikipedia data at scale, and it has repaid its initial investment.
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10x
The venture studio he started inside the US government: public servants pitch the ideas, and the ones that stall get wound down.
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All 41 speaker profiles →
Jos Duncan-AséThu 2911:20–11:40 AMSame session: Q&A
Toshi Anders HooThu 2912:10–12:30 PMAlso explores Community
Suzy EastonThu 291:30–1:45 PMAlso explores Creativity
Simon HaworthThu 291:45–2:05 PMAlso explores Education
Dean ShevThu 292:05–2:25 PMAlso explores Education
Sev GeraskinThu 292:35–2:55 PMAlso explores Community
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About Lane Becker
Lane Becker is president of Wikimedia LLC, the Wikimedia Foundation's for-profit subsidiary that runs Wikimedia Enterprise, a platform for organizations that reuse Wikimedia content in their own sites and services. He also oversees the Foundation's Commercial Partnerships division. Before that he was a strategist at 18F inside the US government, where he started and ran 10x, a venture-style fund for public-benefit technology, and Head of Product at Code for America. In his Silicon Valley days he co-founded Adaptive Path, the user experience firm Capital One bought; Measure Map, which Google bought and turned into the front end of Google Analytics; and Get Satisfaction. He co-wrote Get Lucky, a New York Times bestseller about planned serendipity. He says he likes taking money from places that can afford to part with it and giving it to people who can put it to better use. With AI companies training on the commons, that is the job.
Find Lane elsewhere
Where to find Lane
- Thursday · October 2911:40 AM–12:00 PM
Will Wikimedia Survive the Age of AI
Lane comes at the question from Wikipedia, which everything trains on and nobody pays for.
Add to calendar - Thursday · October 2912:00–12:10 PM
Questions with the speakers
Jos and Lane on stage, taking questions about whose knowledge gets used and who gets a say.
On stage with Jos Duncan-Asé.
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Times are Vancouver time and can still move. See the full program
