Latest news with #vibecoding
Fast Company
4 days ago
- Fast Company
I've become an AI vibecoding convert
A few weeks ago, I finally paid for ChatGPT Plus. It started with a simple goal: I wanted to create a personal archive of my published articles, but wasn't sure how to begin. That led to a long back-and-forth with ChatGPT, where we built a Python script to scrape my author pages, download the content, and format everything cleanly. By the time I hit the free usage limit, I was too invested to pause or switch to another chatbot. So I upgraded. In hindsight, the money ($20 per month) was well spent. For one, it worked: I now have a folder on my computer containing more than a decade's worth of articles. More importantly, this was the moment that AI tools clicked for me. I've had little success using them to write, and often recoil at the images they churn out. When I ask ChatGPT and Google Gemini for factual information, they're liable to get the details wrong on all but the most widely understood topics. But in this case, ChatGPT saved me days of tedious work—and opened my eyes to what else might now be possible. (The idea of creating code without knowing how to code has even been coined 'vibecoding' by Andrej Karpathy.) If I could use AI to build personal Python scripts, what other plugins or extensions could I try next? Web extensions, plug-ins, and more Unlike my colleague Harry McCracken, I'm not using AI to dream up entirely new apps. I already have too many apps from actual professionals on my phone and computer, and I don't trust AI (or myself) enough to compete with them. What I've really gotten into, though, is using AI to extend and improve the software I use already. For instance, I take notes and draft stories in Obsidian, an app that's endlessly extensible via user-created plug-ins. I've always dreamed of a quick note plug-in for Obsidian that matches the simplicity of Google Keep, but have yet to find anything that works. After a few hours of vibecoding, I finally built the plug-in myself. Now, through Obsidian's right sidebar, I can view all the notes from any folder in a card-based layout and edit them directly from the sidebar. The plug-in also lets me pin notes to the top, create new notes with a single click, send notes to an archive folder, and search with real-time results. It even works in Obsidian's mobile app, with the quick-notes view just a swipe away. I've also been tweaking some existing plug-ins for Flow Launcher, a free Windows app for executing quick actions from a command bar. I took a plug-in for window management and added some new sizing options, and I modified a browser history search plug-in to make it work with my current browser (Floorp). AI tools are also useful for creating browser bookmarklets, which are special kinds of bookmarks for doing things like decluttering web pages and speeding up videos. I already wrote an entire article about that, but now I've created an additional bookmarklet for downloading YouTube videos. This works by connecting to a local Python server that silently processes video links and sends them to my Downloads folder. In all cases, the process was the same: I would tell ChatGPT exactly what I was trying to make, and asked for clear, step-by-step instructions on how to make it. I'd follow the instructions, compile the code, and go back to ChatGPT for fixes or refinements. Some assembly required I don't want to oversell vibecoding as an effortless activity. Each of the above projects took hours to build, as I inevitably fall down a rabbit hole of tweaking, clarifying, and troubleshooting. That's partly because AI can be as unreliable in coding as it is in other endeavors. ChatGPT has a habit of confidently declaring that it's produced working code, only for errors to appear when compiling or running it. I've spent hours feeding it error messages, trying to get it to recognize basic syntax issues or missing functions. On several occasions, I've had to abandon a chat entirely and start a new one after the code modifications veered too far off track. Even when everything is working properly, it's easy to fall prey to scope creep. You might think it's simple to add a new feature or tweak the design, but those changes can easily turn into additional hours of refining and fixing. (In fairness, this happens in actual software development, too.) And while you can accomplish a lot without formal programming knowledge, you'll still need a solid grasp of how file systems work and some basic sense of what code should look like. ChatGPT might ask you to replace one snippet with another, or mistakenly claim it's providing full code when large portions are missing. Being able to spot when AI is about to screw up can go a long way. Take some control back One last disclaimer: I'm not nearly confident enough in what I've created to share it with the world, as I'm sure other folks would run into bugs or ask for features that I'm thoroughly unqualified to address. I also wouldn't suggest vibecoding anything that handles sensitive data or important personal information. But for the things vibecoding is good at—small, personal utilities that no one else would want to make—it's immensely satisfying and even empowering. As Techdirt 's Mike Masnick recently pointed out, lowering the barriers to software development is a great way to push back against ' enshittification ' by major tech companies, whose products inevitably get weighed down by the need to scale and extract more money from captive users. To that point, you don't even need AI anymore once the vibe coding is done. Having built what I need for the foreseeable future, I cancelled my ChatGPT Plus subscription after a single month's payment. The extended deadline for Fast Company's Next Big Things in Tech Awards is this Friday, June 27, at 11:59 p.m. PT. Apply today.
Yahoo
19-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Wix Acquires Base44 to Boost AI-Driven Intent-Based Software Development
Ltd. WIX recently acquired Base44, an innovative AI-powered platform that empowers users to build fully functional custom software solutions using natural language – no coding required. The buyout not only bolsters Wix's AI portfolio but also redefines the future of application technology landscape is undergoing a fundamental transformation. Traditional development models are shifting to intent-driven software creation, an approach where users simply express what they want, and intelligent systems handle execution. This initiative, referred to as 'vibe coding,' is gaining strong traction in the market. As the demand rises for tools that transform ideas into reality using natural conversation and intuition instead of coding, Wix aims to make the digital space more open, creative and user-friendly than ever. Base44's core innovation lies in its fully automated, chat-based development environment. The platform allows users to build scalable, production-ready applications just by conversing with it. Its B2B traction with clients like eToro and SimilarWeb strengthens the platform's viability and real-world applicability. The acquisition by Wix is likely to augment Base44's reach, user adoption and setting up databases and managing authentication to handling infrastructure and deployment, Base44 streamlines the process of software integration of Base44 into the Wix AI ecosystem significantly expands the company's portfolio of intelligent creation tools. Wix has been gradually embedding AI across its platform, from AI website generators to intelligent design and content creation tools. With Base44, Wix positions itself as not only a website builder but a comprehensive digital creation platform. Ltd. price-consensus-chart | Ltd. Quote Under the terms of the deal, Wix acquired Base44 for an initial consideration of roughly $80 million, with additional earn-out payments extending through 2029 based on performance milestones. Wix expects to incur around $25 million in retention bonus payments for Base44 employees in 2025, supporting talent retention and product company expects an inconsequential contribution to 2025 bookings and revenues, highlighting the deal's long-term implications. These expenses will be excluded from non-GAAP and free cash flow metrics, helping investors better understand the company's core operating will retain its identity and continue operating as a distinct product and business unit within Wix. This will allow the Base44 team to maintain product authenticity and innovation while tapping into Wix's robust resources. Wix is doubling down on strategic AI investments across its platform, focusing on WIX Studio, commerce tools and generative AI. WIX Studio now has more than 2 million accounts, with 75% from new Partners, making it a top choice for agencies and professionals. The company is embedding AI assistants to boost efficiency and conversion rates. In May 2025, it launched the Model Context Protocol Server, enabling developers to build solutions using tools like Claude and Cursor. Wix has launched Wixel, a next-gen visual design platform that combines top AI models, a simple UI and advanced features. It lets anyone create high-quality photo and video content in just a few clicks, no design experience needed. Wixel supports Wix's mission to empower creators by removing barriers. Similar to its impact on website building in 2006, Wix now aims to reshape digital design. The company has also partnered with Microsoft to integrate Wixel's design tools into Microsoft recently announced the acquisition of Hour One, a pioneer in generative AI media creation. This move strengthens Wix's position at the forefront of AI-driven digital experiences, enhancing its capabilities in advanced web and visual design. Bringing this technology in-house allows the company to maintain greater control over front-end innovations, reduce third-party dependencies and manage costs more the ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty, Wix has taken a cautious stance on its full-year outlook, especially for its Business Solutions unit. Commerce and GPV are more sensitive to consumer trends and economic shifts. While easing forex pressure offers some short-term relief, it doesn't offset larger risks. Though current fundamentals look stable, the environment remains fragile and could change quickly. WIX currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Shares of the company have declined 53.2% in the past year against the Computers - IT Services industry's growth of 53.3%. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Some better-ranked stocks from the broader technology space are Juniper Networks, Inc. JNPR, Arista Networks, Inc. ANET and Ubiquiti Inc. UI. JNPR presently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), while ANET and UI carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank stocks is leveraging the 400-gig cycle to capture hyperscale switching opportunities inside the data center. The company is set to capitalize on the increasing demand for data center virtualization, cloud computing and mobile traffic packet/optical convergence. Juniper also introduced new features within the AI-driven enterprise portfolio that enable customers to simplify the rollout of their campus wired and wireless networks while bringing greater insight to network operators. In the last reported quarter, it delivered an earnings surprise of 4.88%.Arista delivered a trailing four-quarter average earnings surprise of 11.82% and has a long-term growth expectation of 14.81%. Arista currently serves five verticals, namely cloud titans (customers that deploy more than 1 million servers, cloud specialty providers, service providers, financial services and the rest of the enterprise. It supplies products to a prestigious set of customers, including Fortune 500 global companies in markets such as cloud titans, enterprises, financials and specialty cloud service effective management of its strong global network of more than 100 distributors and master resellers improved its visibility for future demand and inventory management techniques. In the last reported quarter, Ubiquiti delivered an earnings surprise of 33.3%. Its highly flexible global business model remains well-suited to adapt to the changing market dynamics to overcome challenges while maximizing growth. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Juniper Networks, Inc. (JNPR) : Free Stock Analysis Report Arista Networks, Inc. (ANET) : Free Stock Analysis Report Ltd. (WIX) : Free Stock Analysis Report Ubiquiti Inc. (UI) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research ( Zacks Investment Research Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
18-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Six-month-old, solo-owned vibe coder Base44 sells to Wix for $80M cash
There's a lot of talk in the startup world about how AI makes individuals so productive that it could give rise to a generation of 'solo unicorns' – one-person companies worth over $1 billion. While an actual solo unicorn remains a mythical creature, Israeli developer Maor Shlomo provided compelling evidence Wednesday that the concept might not be impossible. Shlomo sold his six-month-old, bootstrapped vibe-coding startup Base44 to Wix for $80 million deal, Wix announced Wednesday. And the deal was cash, Wix confirmed to TechCrunch. Admittedly, this wasn't a billion dollars or close to it. And Shlomo wasn't truly solo — he had 8 employees, Wix confirmed. They will collectively receive $25 million of the $80 million as a 'retention' bonus. Wix declined to give details on that part of the deal, like how long they have to stay in their jobs to get full payouts. Still, Base44's rapid rise and impressive sale price has been the talk of the vibe coding community. In its six months as a standalone company, it reportedly grew to 250,000 users, hitting 10,000 users within its first three weeks. According to Shlomo's posts on X and LinkedIn, the company was profitable, generating $189,000 in profit in May even after covering high LLM token costs, which he also documented publicly. Base44 spread mostly through word of mouth as Shlomo, a 31-year-old programmer, shared his building journey on LinkedIn and Twitter. The project began as side venture, he told Israeli tech news site CTech. 'Base44 is a moonshot experiment – helping everyone, technical or not, build software without coding at all,' he explained on LinkedIn when he launched it to the public. It's one of the newer crop of vibe-coding products designed for non-programmers. Users enter text prompts, and the platform builds complete applications, with database, storage, authentication, analytics, and integration. It also supports email, texting, and maps, with a roadmap for more enterprise-grade security support. Base44 isn't unique in this area. Other vibe coders like Adaptive Computer handle similar infrastructure work. But Base44's fast rise was astounding all the same. Shlomo was already known in the Israeli startup community through his previous startup, the Insight Partners-backed data analytics startup Explorium. His brother is also a co-founder of an AI security startup, Token Security, which just raised $20 million led by Notable Capital (formerly GGV Capital) and a bunch of Israeli tech angels. He quickly gained partnership agreements for Base44 with big Israeli tech companies like eToro and Similarweb. After posting about his decision to use Anthropic's Claude LLM through AWS instead of models by OpenAI — mostly for cost-per-performance reasons — Amazon invited Base44 to demo at a Tel Aviv AWS event last month, which Shlomo documented. 'Crazy f***ing journey so far,' Shlomo posted on LinkedIn when announcing the news of the acquisition. Despite the growth and the profits – or really because of it – he sold his still-bootstrapped company because 'the scale and volume we need is not something we can organically grow into … If we were able to get so far organically, bootstrapped, I'm excited to see our new pace now that we have all the resources in place,' he wrote. For its part, Wix picked up a proven, fast-growing, local vibe-coding platform for a relative song because of its youth. OpenAI paid $3 billion for Windsurf, which was funded in 2021. Wix, of course, offers no-code website building that look professionally designed. Adding a profitable LLM vibe coding product to its offerings is a logical move. Shlomo could not be immediately reached for additional comment.
TechCrunch
18-06-2025
- Business
- TechCrunch
Six-month-old, solo-owned vibe coder Base44 sells to Wix for $80M cash
There's a lot of talk in the startup world about how AI makes individuals so productive that it could give rise to a generation of 'solo unicorns' – one-person companies worth over $1 billion. While an actual solo unicorn remains a mythical creature, Israeli developer Maor Shlomo provided compelling evidence Wednesday that the concept might not be impossible. Shlomo sold his six-month-old, bootstrapped vibe-coding startup Base44 to Wix for $80 million deal, Wix announced Wednesday. And the deal was cash, Wix confirmed to TechCrunch. Admittedly, this wasn't a billion dollars or close to it. And Shlomo wasn't truly solo — he had 8 employees, Wix confirmed. They will collectively receive $25 million of the $80 million as a 'retention' bonus. Wix declined to give details on that part of the deal, like how long they have to stay in their jobs to get full payouts. Still, Base44's rapid rise and impressive sale price has been the talk of the vibe coding community. In its six months as a standalone company, it reportedly grew to 250,000 users, hitting 10,000 users within its first three weeks. According to Shlomo's posts on X and LinkedIn, the company was profitable, generating $189,000 in profit in May even after covering high LLM token costs, which he also documented publicly. Base44 spread mostly through word of mouth as Shlomo, a 31-year-old programmer, shared his building journey on LinkedIn and Twitter. The project began as side venture, he told Israeli tech news site CTech. Techcrunch event Save $200+ on your TechCrunch All Stage pass Build smarter. Scale faster. Connect deeper. Join visionaries from Precursor Ventures, NEA, Index Ventures, Underscore VC, and beyond for a day packed with strategies, workshops, and meaningful connections. Save $200+ on your TechCrunch All Stage pass Build smarter. Scale faster. Connect deeper. Join visionaries from Precursor Ventures, NEA, Index Ventures, Underscore VC, and beyond for a day packed with strategies, workshops, and meaningful connections. Boston, MA | REGISTER NOW 'Base44 is a moonshot experiment – helping everyone, technical or not, build software without coding at all,' he explained on LinkedIn when he launched it to the public. It's one of the newer crop of vibe-coding products designed for non-programmers. Users enter text prompts, and the platform builds complete applications, with database, storage, authentication, analytics, and integration. It also supports email, texting, and maps, with a roadmap for more enterprise-grade security support. Base44 isn't unique in this area. Other vibe coders like Adaptive Computer handle similar infrastructure work. But Base44's fast rise was astounding all the same. Shlomo was already known in the Israeli startup community through his previous startup, the Insight Partners-backed data analytics startup Explorium. His brother is also a co-founder of an AI security startup, Token Security, which just raised $20 million led by Notable Capital (formerly GGV Capital) and a bunch of Israeli tech angels. He quickly gained partnership agreements for Base44 with big Israeli tech companies like eToro and Similarweb. After posting about his decision to use Anthropic's Claude LLM through AWS instead of models by OpenAI — mostly for cost-per-performance reasons — Amazon invited Base44 to demo at a Tel Aviv AWS event last month, which Shlomo documented. 'Crazy f***ing journey so far,' Shlomo posted on LinkedIn when announcing the news of the acquisition. Despite the growth and the profits – or really because of it – he sold his still-bootstrapped company because 'the scale and volume we need is not something we can organically grow into … If we were able to get so far organically, bootstrapped, I'm excited to see our new pace now that we have all the resources in place,' he wrote. For its part, Wix picked up a proven, fast-growing, local vibe-coding platform for a relative song because of its youth. OpenAI paid $3 billion for Windsurf, which was funded in 2021. Wix, of course, offers no-code website building that look professionally designed. Adding a profitable LLM vibe coding product to its offerings is a logical move. Shlomo could not be immediately reached for additional comment.
Forbes
17-06-2025
- Business
- Forbes
4 Tips For Companies Building Internal AI Tools
Startup founder building custom internal applications with AI coding application. The AI video editing startup, Detail, ditched an expensive software-as-a-service subscription for a custom application that their founder created using AI coding and automation tools for their customer service chatbot. 'In about a week of work, we've replaced Intercom with our own homegrown customer support tools,' Paul Veugen, founder and CEO of Detail, wrote in a LinkedIn post. While this is not widespread yet, Detail is not alone. There is an emerging trend among startups that are building custom applications using AI coding tools like Replit and V0, often dubbed 'vibe coding.' While cost savings are one variable, usually they are building these custom applications when standard SaaS tools don't fully solve painful problems. One of the biggest differences in how these tools are being created is that they are frequently created and maintained by non-technical founders and employees. Previously, the only options for internal tools were to pay for SaaS products, or pay a lot of money for a company to make a custom tool for you. In an interview with me, Veugen clarified his reasoning for creating a custom application. It was about creating a customer service experience that worked well with the nature of his customers, their needs, and for how his startup operates. 'I cannot give twenty-four seven worldwide support with a team of 10 people. Right? It's not gonna work,' he said. 'If you do human chat in particular, there's expectations about the interaction that are absolutely suboptimal.' So Veugen spent a day building an app that connects to Detail's public customer service articles and YouTube videos so their chatbot can answer customer questions with written and video directions at any time. Brannon Skillern, a fractional Chief People Officer with no previous engineering experience, built a timesheet app for her agricultural tech startup client. It saves 10 -12 hours a month for herself and the CFO and has increased the accuracy of the time recorded. Due to the nature of the manual labor their research and development team does, how people tracked their time varied. But it didn't make financial sense for the startup to shell out for a SaaS product at this phase. 'I could have forced a new tool, and it just would have been paying a bunch of money and I would have low compliance, and I would still have to manipulate the data in several ways to get it to what I need it to be,' Skillern told me in an interview. Even businesses not directly in tech are beginning to create their own custom tools that didn't exist before. For example, Cyndi Coon, founder and CEO of Laboratory5 Inc, built a research workbook application for their research workshops. 'We don't have IT, or stuff that larger companies have that allows them to test run stuff. We don't have the bandwidth as a team. Now it's amazing the power that we have in the hands of [our] people,' Coon shared with me. Previously, they would use surveys or forms, which she described as limiting for the level of creativity required of research participants. While some companies are saving time and money with these applications, what makes them successful isn't solely those reasons. There are four keys to success in building your own custom applications with AI coding applications: As AI adoption increases, we will likely see more businesses experimenting with creating their own custom applications with vibe coding. With all new things, it is some level of risk. Businesses still need to consider legal and privacy implications of the apps they are creating. And some businesses may push the capabilities of these AI coding tools to their limits. It's important for any business to remember what they are really solving for, assess any risks, and consider paying for help or leveraging an existing tool. However, the potential rewards outweigh these manageable risks for some companies. For startups and small businesses operating with limited resources and unique needs, the ability to create exactly what you need, represents a shift in how businesses can operate. The key is approaching custom application development thoughtfully: start with clearly defined problems, build simple solutions first, and iterate based on real usage. For startups willing to experiment, this technology offers the opportunity to move from being constrained by what exists to being empowered by what's possible.
