Elon Musk Blasts Wikipedia For Disastrous Accuracy Record, Dangles $1 Billion Prize For A Radical Name Change

Elon Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur known for his leadership at SpaceX and Tesla, has been making headlines since his acquisition of Twitter, subsequently renamed X.

Recently, he made a peculiar proposition, stating that he would offer Wikipedia a staggering $1 billion if they were to change their name to "Dickipedia" in the interest of ensuring accuracy.

When a user encouraged Wikipedia to accept the name change, Musk introduced an additional condition. "One-year minimum. I mean, I'm not a fool lol," he replied, suggesting that the name change should be sustained for at least a year.

In a subsequent post, Musk shared a screenshot of Wikipedia's homepage, which featured messages stating, "Wikipedia is not for sale" and "a personal appeal from Jimmy Wales."

Musk posed a question, wondering why the Wikimedia Foundation required substantial funds, insinuating that the money was not essential for Wikipedia's operational needs.

The discussion around Musk's proposal and Wikipedia's financial needs garnered a broad response from online users, with some expressing skepticism about solicitation for donations and others making humorous remarks about the situation.

This exchange with Elon Musk is not the first time Wikipedia and the billionaire have interacted.

Earlier this year, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales criticised Musk for complying with Turkish authorities' request to restrict content critical of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ahead of a contentious presidential election.

In his remarks, Wales emphasised the importance of upholding free speech principles, citing Wikipedia's stance in defending those principles when facing similar challenges.

Wikipedia had been blocked in Turkey for over two years due to concerns over its content, which were cited under Turkish law as potentially obscene or a threat to national security.