In celebrating 1 trillion web pages archived, the Internet Archive is proud to honor the visionary who made it all possible. As announced in The New Yorker, the 2025 Internet Archive Hero Award was presented to Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web. Sir Tim’s groundbreaking work opened the door to a connected world and laid the foundation for our shared digital history.

Sir Tim was presented the award during a discussion at the Commonwealth Club of California on October 9. The conversation, “Building and Preserving the Web: A Conversation with Sir Tim Berners-Lee and Brewster Kahle,” was guided by Lauren Goode (Wired), and is now available for listening & download as an episode of the Future Knowledge podcast.

Listen to Sir Tim Berners-Lee and Brewster Kahle:

Sir Tim’s invention transformed how humanity shares knowledge, and his ongoing advocacy for an open and accessible web that empowers individuals continues to inspire us. We’re thrilled to recognize his enduring contributions as we mark this historic achievement for the web.

Watch the video from our celebration on October 22:

The Internet Archive Hero Award is an annual award that recognizes those who have exhibited leadership in making information available for digital learners all over the world. Previous recipients have included the island nation of Aruba, public information advocate Carl Malamud, copyright expert Michelle Wu, and the Grateful Dead.