Automattic acquired WPAI, its second AI buy in two months, to lead WordPress AI

Automattic, the company behind WordPress.com, was acquiring startups to fold AI into the WordPress ecosystem.

Automattic bet WordPress's future depends on AI built into the core ecosystem — buying the team to redefine how users and developers work with WordPress.

WPAI built AI solutions for WordPress. In the acquisition its founding team joined Automattic to lead WordPress's AI efforts, working on 'testing, building, and integrating innovative AI solutions into the core ecosystem'.

CodeWP and AgentWP would be discontinued in their current states and integrated within Automattic's offering. WPAI said it would develop AI standards for WordPress, improve the platform's core functionality, and build tools that help users build and manage better websites 'while maintaining open-source values'. It was Automattic's second acquisition in two months, after Harper, which checks grammar locally on devices.

Acqui-hire with a doctrine: the products die, the team leads WordPress's AI efforts inside the core ecosystem.

Open-source values named explicitly as a constraint on how the AI integration proceeds.

Part of a documented buying spree — Harper a month earlier — showing a systematic AI push.

When a platform needs a new capability, buying the team that already ships it beats building in parallel — if you can absorb their products cleanly.

The deal closed with terms undisclosed; WPAI's products were being folded into Automattic's offering as of December 2024.