WordPress Wades into AI: New Team to Spearhead Artificial Intelligence Innovation

WordPress, one of the world’s most widely used website-building platforms, announced on Tuesday that it has formed a dedicated artificial intelligence (AI) team aimed at accelerating AI product development within the WordPress developer community. The announcement was reported by TechCrunch.

The new AI team includes prominent figures from both within and outside the WordPress ecosystem. Among them are James LePage, head of AI at Automattic (the parent company of WordPress), Felix Arntz and Pascal Birchler from Google, and Jeff Paul, Director of Open Source at the web design agency 10up.

WordPress has long been regarded as a powerful tool for website creation, and its open-source developer community has already begun exploring applications of artificial intelligence across various plugins and tools. However, the creation of a formal AI team marks a more structured and goal-driven approach to AI integration.

In a blog post, WordPress Executive Director Josepha Haden Chomphosy (incorrectly stated as Mary Hubbard in some earlier sources) wrote, “A coordinated team can lead AI efforts with vision, avoid fragmented experimentation, and ensure alignment with the long-term goals of WordPress.”

Currently, over 660 AI-powered plugins are available on the WordPress platform. These include tools such as AI-based template builders, search engine optimization (SEO) solutions, and chatbots, many of which have gained significant popularity among users.

Industry experts view this move as a significant milestone in the technological evolution of WordPress. By investing in a focused AI strategy, the platform aims to enhance both developer innovation and user experience, while maintaining its position at the forefront of web development.