Elon Musk says he will give $1 billion to Wikipedia if it changes name to…
Tesla CEO Elon Musk offers Wikipedia $1 billion to change its name in a playful internet banter. The unusual proposition, made on Twitter, has garnered much attention from the online community, with some worried about Wikipedia's tendency to seek donations and others joking about Musk's typical "rich guy" antics.
Elon Musk shared a post about some places in Europe.
In Short
- Elon Musk has humorously offered to donate $1 billion to Wikipedia if the free online encyclopedia changes its name to 'Dickipedia' and maintains it for at least a year.
- This comes after Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales criticised Musk for censoring critics of the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
- The playful offer and subsequent conversation on Twitter garnered considerable attention.
Elon Musk, the man behind SpaceX and Tesla, is making headlines yet again. This time, it's not about a new venture but a playful offer he made to Wikipedia. Musk, known for his regular posts on Twitter, made a rather unusual proposal. He said he'd give Wikipedia a staggering $1 billion, but there was a catch: they had to change their name to “Dickipedia." Musk known for his tongue in cheek humour claimed it was all in the name of accuracy.
As you can imagine, this caught the attention of Twitter users worldwide. One user encouraged Wikipedia to go for it, and Musk added another twist. He said they would have to keep the name for at least a year, and he cheekily remarked, "I mean, I'm not a fool lol."
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Musk even shared a screenshot of Wikipedia's homepage, where it stated, "Wikipedia is not for sale" and featured "a personal appeal from Jimmy Wales." He questioned why the Wikimedia Foundation needed so much money, considering that Wikipedia's entire text could fit on a smartphone. He left a humorous request to add it to his Wikipedia page.
Furthermore, Musk asked if a cow and a poop emoji could be added to his Wikipedia page. This playful banter on Twitter garnered massive attention, with millions of views and likes.
Some Twitter users were cautious, noting that Wikipedia often seeks donations, so they might actually try to collect the billion dollars. Others found the whole situation amusing, comparing it to a "cage match challenge." There were suggestions to buy Wikipedia and let AI take over the updates, and a few joked about Musk's typical "rich guy" move.
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In a previous incident, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales criticized Musk for censoring critics of the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, just before a crucial election. Musk had complied with Turkey's demands to restrict content, which didn't sit well with Wales. He pointed out that Wikipedia had faced a similar situation but had defended freedom of expression, even going to the Supreme Court of Turkey to protect it.
Musk's response was, "The choice is to have Twitter throttled entirely or limit access to some tweets. Which one do you want?"
It's important to note that Wikipedia had been blocked in Turkey for over two years due to the country's regulations allowing the ban of sites deemed obscene or a threat to national security.