Cybersecurity & Tech

The Cyberlaw Podcast: Interviewing Jimmy Wales Cofounder of Wikipedia

Stewart Baker
Thursday, June 1, 2023, 4:24 PM

Published by The Lawfare Institute
in Cooperation With
Brookings

In this bonus episode of the Cyberlaw Podcast, I interview Jimmy Wales, the cofounder of Wikipedia. Wikipedia is a rare survivor from the Internet Hippie Age, coexisting like a great herbivorous dinosaur with Facebook, Twitter, and the other carnivorous mammals of Web 2.0. Perhaps not coincidentally, Jimmy is the most prominent founder of a massive internet institution not to become a billionaire. We explore why that is, and how he feels about it. 

I ask Jimmy whether Wikipedia’s model is sustainable, and what new challenges lie ahead for the online encyclopedia. We explore the claim that Wikipedia has a lefty bias, whether a neutral point of view can be maintained by including only material from trusted sources, and I ask Jimmy about a concrete, and in my view weirdly biased, entry in Wikipedia on “Communism.”

We close with an exploration of the opportunities and risks posed for Wikipedia from ChatGPT and other large language AI models.  

Download 460th Episode (mp3) 

You can subscribe to The Cyberlaw Podcast using iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, Pocket Casts, or our RSS feed. As always, The Cyberlaw Podcast is open to feedback. Be sure to engage with @stewartbaker on Twitter. Send your questions, comments, and suggestions for topics or interviewees to CyberlawPodcast@gmail.com. Remember: If your suggested guest appears on the show, we will send you a highly coveted Cyberlaw Podcast mug! The views expressed in this podcast are those of the speakers and do not reflect the opinions of their institutions, clients, friends, families, or pets.


Stewart A. Baker is a partner in the Washington office of Steptoe & Johnson LLP. He returned to the firm following 3½ years at the Department of Homeland Security as its first Assistant Secretary for Policy. He earlier served as general counsel of the National Security Agency.

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