Background and Announcement

At the WordCamp US 2025 conference in Portland, WordPress CEO Matt Mullenweg announced the rollout of Telex, an experimental AI development tool designed specifically for the WordPress ecosystem. The platform, hosted at telex.automattic.ai, is positioned as a "V0 or Lovable" prototype, reflecting the company’s intent to explore prompt‑based AI interfaces for building software.

How Telex Works

Telex allows users to type a natural‑language prompt describing the type of Gutenberg block they wish to create. The system then returns a downloadable .zip file that can be installed as a plugin on a WordPress site or used within WordPress Playground, a browser‑based environment that runs WordPress without a host. During the keynote, Mullenweg demonstrated a simple marketing animation built with Telex, showing how the tool can produce modular pieces of text, images, columns, and other block elements.

Early Testing and Feedback

Early testers reported mixed results; several test projects failed or required additional work to function properly. Despite these challenges, the prototype is being presented as a proof of concept rather than a finished product. Mullenweg highlighted the broader mission, stating, "When we think about democratized publishing, like embedded in that, is very core to WordPress’ mission, has been taking things that were difficult to do, that required knowledge of coding or anything else, and … made it accessible to people. Made it accessible in a radically open way, in every language, at low cost, open source — we actually own it and have rights to it."

Future Outlook and Company Context

The launch of Telex follows WordPress’s earlier announcement of forming an AI team to steward future AI products aligned with long‑term goals. Mullenweg expressed optimism about AI’s role, noting, "At the core of it, there is a seed of something, which is so enabling," while acknowledging concerns about hype and potential bubbles. He also referenced a separate legal dispute with hosting provider WP Engine over trademark licensing, describing it as progressing through the courts.

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