Why Does Elon Musk Want Wikipedia To Be Called “Di**ipedia”?

Elon Musk, the well-known billionaire who founded Tesla and who recently took over the platform X, has made an eye-catching offer to Wikipedia. He says he’s willing to give $1 billion to Wikipedia if they agree to change their name to “Di**ipedia.” 

He adds that he would make this donation “in the interests of accuracy.” But there’s a condition, Wikipedia will have to keep this new name for at least one year.

While this offer has caught the attention of many, some people are asking why Musk is challenging Wikipedia’s fundraising. In a post, he wondered why Wikipedia asks for so much money when you can fit the entire text of the website on a mobile phone. 

According to Musk, the amount of money Wikipedia asks for seems to be more than what’s needed to keep the website running.

Interestingly, this is not the first time that Musk and Wikipedia have had a disagreement. Back in May, Jimmy Wales, the co-founder of Wikipedia, criticized Musk for limiting certain kinds of content on the X platform. 

This happened during the lead-up to the presidential election in Turkey. Wales said that Wikipedia had faced a similar issue in Turkey but had chosen to fight for their principles all the way to Turkey’s Supreme Court, and they won. So, there’s a history of differing opinions between the two, particularly around the issue of freedom of speech.

Also Read: ‘X’ aka Twitter Won’t Be Free Anymore, Elon Musk Hints

Musk also posted that he’d like a bull and a poop (bullsh*t) emoji added to his Wikipedia page. It’s unclear if he was serious, taunting, or just joking.

It’s not clear what the whole picture is, but it looks like Elon Musk thinks he can buy anything with his money. His offer to Wikipedia seems to mock the site’s credibility and image. 

By attaching a weird condition to his big money offer, he’s also making it about his terms, not just helping Wikipedia. 

It’s like he’s taunting them, especially since they had a disagreement before that didn’t end well. It feels like Musk is using his wealth to challenge and poke fun at Wikipedia, rather than simply support it.