Tim Berners-Lee: the web needs to return to its roots

30 September 2025

Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the internet, writing for The Guardian:

I gave the world wide web away for free because I thought that it would only work if it worked for everyone. Today, I believe that to be truer than ever. Regulation and global governance are technically feasible, but reliant on political willpower. If we are able to muster it, we have the chance to restore the web as a tool for collaboration, creativity and compassion across cultural borders. We can re-empower individuals, and take the web back. It’s not too late.

Berners-Lee also calls for AI research and development to be facilitated by a not-for-profit body, along the lines of CERN, the international organisation where Berners-Lee created the internet.