Wikipedia Receives $250,000 Grant to Develop Search Engine

Parent company of Wikipedia, the Wikimedia Foundation, has finally released details of an in-development search engine after receiving a grant of $250,000 from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

The grant is just part of a planned $2.5 million project to create a “Google-like” search engine entitled “the Knowledge Engine” that makes it easier for users to find facts and information using connections to the company’s online encyclopaedia.

According to The Register, Wikipedia CEO Jimmy Wales previously denied working on a search engine, and the company’s reluctance to disclose the project is reported to be a contributing factor to Wikimedia Foundation board member James Heilman’s departure in December.

Wikipedia has faced criticism recently for censoring and expelling long-time editors of the site, as well as holding an authoritarian control over pages which feature incorrect statements but which serve the company’s authoritarian-leftist political agenda.

The page for GamerGate for example describes the consumer-revolt movement as a “harassment campaign” targeted at women in the gaming industry, and anyone who attempts to rectify the factually incorrect statement is immediately locked out.

Black Lives Matter activist Shaun King is also listed as a “minority” with an African-American father, despite the fact that King’s birth certificate lists two white parents. Attempts to rectify this have also been met with similar hostility, and the entry is currently not able to be changed.

With the rise of competitors, such as the non-biased community orientated Everipedia, it is not unusual that the company is looking for other ways, like the search engine, to expand.

It is currently unknown as to when the entire project is targeted for release, but a handful of conceptual designs are currently available to the public.

Charlie Nash is a libertarian writer, memeologist, and child prodigy. When he is not writing, he can usually be found chilling at the Korova Milk Bar, mingling with the infamous. You can follow him on Twitter at @MrNashington.