Left-wing radicals?
Wikipedia founder defends himself against Elon Musk
Updated 11/14/2025 – 01:12Reading time: 2 minutes
Elon Musk accused the online encyclopedia Wikipedia of having a left-wing orientation – and developed an alternative. Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales disagrees.
Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales (59) defended the online encyclopedia against Elon Musk’s claim that it has a left-wing political orientation. “If the question is whether Wikipedia has been taken over by radical left-wing activists, the answer is no,” Wales said at the launch of his book “Trust” in Berlin.
There is a real passion for neutrality within the Wikipedia community and questions about how to fairly represent all sides in the debate. However, Wales said, of course it could happen that certain articles are biased – for example if the article is only written by one person who has their own point of view.
Then it’s up to other writers to make it more balanced. Wales emphasized that the Wikipedia community must address criticism of neutrality constructively and examine it critically. Contributions to the website are created and edited by users. “We want to achieve a consensus view that is fair to everyone and sheds light on the debate rather than taking sides in the debate.”
Musk has long claimed that the encyclopedia is not objective and has a left-wing political orientation. He himself is known for his right-wing views. The tech billionaire recently launched his alternative to Wikipedia. A website called Grokipedia offers a similar design with a search mask and articles with references. It was developed at his AI company xAI.
Wale’s book entitled “Trust. 7 rules of trust or how to make things last” is about the history of Wikipedia and the principles on which the online encyclopedia is based. He wrote the book, which has been available in Germany since the end of October, with journalist Dan Gardner.
