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Type of site | Answer engine |
|---|---|
| Owner | WolframAlpha LLC |
| Created by | Wolfram Research |
| URL | wolframalpha.com |
| Commercial | Yes |
| Registration | Optional |
| Launched | May 18, 2009; 15 years ago (2009-05-18) |
| Current status | Active |
| Written in | Wolfram Language |
WolframAlpha (/ˈwʊlf.rəm-/WUULf-rəm-) is ananswer engine developed byWolfram Research.[1] It is offered as anonline service that answers factual queries by computing answers from externally sourced data.[2][3]
Launch preparations for WolframAlpha began on May 15, 2009, at 7:00 pmCDT with a live broadcast onJustin.tv. The plan was to publicly launch the service a few hours later.[4][5] However, there were issues due to extreme load. The service officially launched on May 18, 2009, receiving mixed reviews.[6][7][8]
The engine is based on Wolfram's earlier productWolfram Mathematica, a technical computing platform.[4] The coding is written inWolfram Language, a general multi-paradigm[further explanation needed] programming language, and implemented inMathematica.[9] WolframAlpha gathers data from academic and commercial websites such as theCIA'sThe World Factbook, theUnited States Geological Survey, a Cornell University Library publication calledAll About Birds,Chambers Biographical Dictionary,Dow Jones, theCatalogue of Life,[1]CrunchBase,[10]Best Buy,[11] and theFAA to answer queries.[12]
On February 8, 2012, WolframAlpha Pro was released,[13] offering users additional features for a monthly subscription fee.[13][14]
Users submit queries and computation requests via a text field. WolframAlpha then computes answers and relevant visualizations from aknowledge base ofcurated,structured data that come from other sites and books. It can respond to particularly phrasednatural language fact-based questions. It displays its "Input interpretation" of such a question, using standardized phrases. It can also parse mathematical symbolism and respond with numerical and statistical results.[citation needed]
WolframAlpha was used to power some searches in theMicrosoftBing andDuckDuckGo search engines but is no longer used to provide search results.[15][16] For factualquestion answering, WolframAlpha was used by Apple'sSiri in October 2011 andAmazon Alexa in December 2018 for math and science queries.[17][18] Users noticed that the Wolfram Integration for Siri was changed in June 2013 to use Bing to query certain results on iOS 7.[19] Starting with iOS 17, it was reported that Wolfram for Siri no longer answers mathematical equations, instead defaulting to web search queries with no notable explanation.[20][21] WolframAlphadata types[clarification needed], sets of curated information and formulas that assist in creating, categorization, and filling of spreadsheet information, became available in July 2020 withinMicrosoft Excel.[22] The Microsoft-Wolfram partnership ended nearly two years later, in 2022, in favor of MicrosoftPower Query data types.[23] WolframAlpha functionality inMicrosoft Excel ended in June 2023.[24][25]
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