WordPress.com has introduced a built-in WordPress AI Assistant, embedding artificial intelligence directly into its editor and Media Library to help users create, design, and manage websites within their existing workflow. The feature is rolling out to sites on WordPress.com Business and Commerce plans at no additional cost.

The update matters because AI adoption has often required creators to move between external tools and publishing platforms, creating friction between generating content and implementing it — requiring copy-pasting, prompt engineering, or additional code to apply results. By integrating AI directly into the site-building environment, WordPress aims to reduce that gap and make AI part of everyday production rather than experimentation.

Unlike standalone AI tools, the assistant operates inside live site infrastructure, understanding layout, content, and design context while enabling real-time changes across pages and media assets.

The rollout primarily affects website creators, publishers, marketers, agencies, and businesses that rely on WordPress as a core digital platform.

Here’s what this means: website platforms are evolving into AI-assisted creation environments where design, writing, and management increasingly happen through embedded intelligence rather than separate applications.

Once enabled, the AI assistant appears directly inside the WordPress editor, where it can assist with site-wide structure, design decisions, and content edits without requiring users to leave the editor. Users can adjust layouts, styles, and block patterns conversationally and see changes applied in real time as they work.

Users can ask the assistant to:

Changes appear immediately within the editing interface, allowing creators to iterate on both design and content without switching tools or manually implementing AI-generated outputs.

This approach allows AI to operate as a context-aware design assistant, responding to how a page is already built rather than generating isolated outputs.

The Media Library now includes AI-powered image generation and editing tools.

Users can create or modify visuals directly within WordPress by specifying style, subject, or aspect ratio. Examples include:

These features are powered by Nano Banana models, enabling image creation without requiring additional AI subscriptions or external design software.

Because the tools live inside the Media Library, generated images are automatically stored and managed alongside the site’s existing media files.

The Block Notes feature, introduced in WordPress 6.9, allows teams to collaborate directly inside the editor. The WordPress AI Assistant extends this workflow by enabling users to ask questions within block notes and receive AI-generated responses informed by their site content, along with relevant links and supporting information from external sources.

Users can tag the assistant within notes to:

The system can reference both on-page material and relevant external information, enabling collaborative editing supported by AI context awareness.

Users can activate the assistant through site settings:

Sites created using the AI website builder may have the assistant enabled automatically, regardless of the plan selected.

The assistant performs best with block themes. Classic themes will not display editor-based AI features, though image generation remains available in the Media Library.

Q: What is the WordPress AI Assistant?
A: A built-in AI tool integrated into WordPress.com that helps users design pages, edit content, and generate media directly inside their site workflow.

Q: Who can use it now?
A: WordPress.com users on Business or Commerce plans who enable the AI tools setting.

Q: Where does the AI Assistant appear inside WordPress?
A: Inside the editor, Media Library, and Block Notes workflow environments.

Q: What can the assistant do inside the editor?
A: Modify layouts, adjust styles, rewrite content, translate text, generate titles, and add new site sections through conversational prompts.

Q: How does it handle images?
A: Users can generate and edit images directly within the Media Library using AI image tools powered by Nano Banana models.

Q: Why is this significant for creators?
A: It removes friction between ideation and execution by embedding AI directly into the website-building environment.

Beyond a product update, the WordPress AI Assistant shows how AI is increasingly integrated directly into everyday software platforms instead of operating as standalone tools.

Who should care: Website creators, publishers, marketers, agencies, and businesses managing websites who want to build, update, and maintain content faster without relying on external AI tools.

Why it matters now: Many creators and teams generate content with AI in one tool, then manually move it into another system to publish, design, or edit — a process that slows production and breaks workflow momentum. Embedding AI directly into publishing platforms allows AI to shape real work as it happens, not just assist from the sidelines.

What decision this affects: Organizations selecting website platforms may increasingly evaluate how deeply AI capabilities are integrated into core workflows, not just whether AI features exist. Platforms that embed AI directly into creation environments may gain an advantage over tools that rely on external integrations.

As AI becomes integrated into core publishing environments, adoption may depend less on capability and more on how naturally AI fits into existing workflows.

AI is becoming less of a feature and more of a foundational layer shaping how digital content creation happens.

Editor’s Note: This article was created by Alicia Shapiro, CMO of AiNews.com, with writing, image, and idea-generation support from ChatGPT, an AI assistant. However, the final perspective and editorial choices are solely Alicia Shapiro’s. Special thanks to ChatGPT for assistance with research and editorial support in crafting this article.