In a significant development for the world's most popular content management system, WordPress has officially established a dedicated AI Team to guide and accelerate artificial intelligence initiatives across its ecosystem.
Announced on May 27, 2025, by WordPress executive director Mary Hubbard, the new team will focus on coordinating AI projects, preventing fragmentation, and ensuring that innovations align with WordPress's core values and long-term objectives. "A unified team stewards AI development thoughtfully, avoids fragmentation, and ensures alignment with the long-term goals of WordPress," Hubbard stated in the announcement post.
The team brings together industry experts including James LePage, leader of AI at Automattic (WordPress's parent company), Felix Arntz and Pascal Birchler from Google, and Jeff Paul, Director of Open Source at web design firm 10up. LePage and Arntz will serve as the initial Team Representatives, supporting organization and coordination with other WordPress teams.
This initiative comes at a critical time when AI is rapidly transforming online content creation and management. Currently, WordPress developers have published 660 different AI plugins, ranging from template builders and SEO optimization tools to sophisticated chatbots. The formation of a dedicated team signals WordPress's intention to take a more active role in organizing and moderating these efforts.
The AI Team will adopt a plugin-first approach similar to the WordPress Performance Team, allowing for rapid iteration and testing of new features before potential integration into the core platform. This methodology enables innovation while maintaining WordPress's commitment to open-source development and community involvement.
For developers and users interested in contributing or following the team's progress, WordPress has established a dedicated channel (#core-ai) on its Slack workspace and created a team blog at make.wordpress.org/ai. The team is currently organizing its initial roadmap, meeting schedule, and contribution guidelines, with more details expected in the coming weeks.
As AI continues to evolve, this strategic initiative positions WordPress to remain at the forefront of content management technology while ensuring that AI integration happens in the open, guided by community values, and built to core standards.