Last week, something big happened in WordPress. And most people missed it.
A proposal was published to merge an AI Client directly into WordPress Core for the upcoming 7.0 release. Not a plugin. Not a third-party add-on. AI infrastructure built into WordPress itself.
At the same time, WordPress.com launched an official connector for Claude (Anthropic’s AI), a new MCP Adapter was released for self-hosted WordPress sites, and a micro-credential programme was announced to train students on WordPress AI projects.
Four separate WordPress AI announcements in one week. That’s not a coincidence, it’s a direction.
If you use WordPress (or you’re learning it), here’s what all of this actually means for you. No hype, no jargon. Just the practical bits.
The Big One: WordPress AI Is Being Built Into Core
On 3rd February, Felix Arntz (a Google-sponsored WordPress Core contributor) published a proposal to merge something called the “WP AI Client into WordPress 7.0“.
Here’s what that means in plain English:
Right now, if you want AI features on your WordPress site, you install a plugin. That plugin talks to one specific AI provider (like OpenAI or Google). Every plugin does it differently. There’s no standard way for WordPress to interact with AI.
With the WP AI Client, WordPress itself would have a built-in, standardised way to talk to any AI provider. Think of it like how WordPress handles images, you don’t need a plugin to upload a photo, because that capability is built into Core. This proposal does the same thing for AI.
The important bits:
- It’s provider-agnostic. It doesn’t lock you into OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, or anyone else. You (or your plugins) choose which AI service to use.
- Nothing happens automatically. No AI providers are pre-configured. No data gets sent anywhere without you explicitly setting it up. If you do nothing, nothing changes.
- It’s infrastructure, not a product. You won’t suddenly see AI features appearing in your dashboard. This gives plugin developers a consistent foundation to build on. The actual features will come from plugins, but they’ll all work the same way under the hood.
- There’s a credentials screen. A new settings page in WP Admin where you manage your AI provider API keys in one place, rather than configuring them separately in every plugin.
Why This Matters
If you’re a beginner, this might sound abstract. But here’s the practical impact:
Right now, if you use one AI plugin for content suggestions and another for image generation, they each have their own settings, their own API key management, their own way of doing things. It’s a bit messy.
With the WP AI Client in Core, both plugins could use the same underlying system. One place to manage your AI credentials. One consistent way for plugins to request AI features. Less duplication, less confusion, more reliability.
It also means plugin developers can build AI features without reinventing the wheel every time. Which means better AI plugins, faster.
The Timeline
WordPress 7.0 Beta 1 is scheduled for 19th February 2026, with the final release on 9th April 2026 (coinciding with WordCamp Asia). So this is happening soon, not “someday” in the future.
AI Agents Can Now Connect to Self-Hosted WordPress
This one flew under the radar, but it matters.
On 4th February, the WordPress team released the WordPress MCP Adapter. MCP stands for Model Context Protocol, it’s a standard that lets AI tools (like Claude, ChatGPT, or local AI assistants) connect to external services securely.
The MCP Adapter turns your self-hosted WordPress site into something an AI agent can talk to. It connects to the new Abilities API and exposes three core tools:
- Discover abilities – the AI can see what your site can do
- Get ability info – the AI can understand how each ability works
- Execute abilities – the AI can perform actions on your site (with your permission)
What does that look like in practice?
Imagine telling an AI assistant: “Check my WordPress site for posts that haven’t been updated in six months” or “Show me which pages have broken links” or “Summarise the comments from last week.”
Instead of logging into your dashboard, clicking through menus, and doing it manually, an AI agent does it for you, securely, through a standardised connection.
This is early days. The capabilities will grow as the Abilities API expands. But the foundation is there, and it works on self-hosted WordPress, not just WordPress.com.
WordPress.com Already Has a Claude Connector
Worth noting: WordPress.com (the hosted platform, not self-hosted WordPress) launched an official Claude Connector on 5th February. If you’re on a paid WordPress.com plan, you can connect Claude directly to your site for read-only access to traffic data, comments, and content analysis.
This is a WordPress.com feature, so it doesn’t directly apply if you’re running self-hosted WordPress (which most of you guys probably are). But it shows where things are heading and the self-hosted MCP Adapter is the equivalent for the rest of us.
Students Are Getting Paid to Build WordPress AI
The WordPress Foundation, together with the University of Illinois Chicago and Automattic, announced an “AI Leaders” micro-credential pilot starting in March 2026.
Eighty students will enrol, forty will be selected for the full programme, and each completer earns $1,000 for working on real WordPress AI projects. It’s the first workforce-oriented credential in the WordPress ecosystem.
This tells you something about where WordPress sees its future. They’re not just adding AI features, they’re investing in training people to build with AI on WordPress. That’s a clear sign of long-term play.
My Honest Take
I use AI every day in my business. I use it to help manage 100+ client sites at my agency. I use it to build content systems for WP Odyssey. I’m not anti-AI, I’m very much pro-AI.
But here’s what I want you to take away from all of this:
AI is a tool, not a replacement for understanding WordPress.
The WP AI Client in Core is developer infrastructure. It makes it easier for plugins to offer AI features. That’s great. But if you don’t understand how WordPress works, how themes, plugins, hosting, security, and performance all fit together, an AI tool on top of that won’t save you.
It’s like giving someone a power drill before they understand how to measure twice and cut once. The drill is useful. But only if you know what you’re building.
This is why I teach foundations first at WP Odyssey. Learn how WordPress actually works. Understand the concepts. Then use AI (and page builders, and automation tools) as accelerators, not crutches.
The people who will benefit most from WordPress AI are the ones who already understand WordPress. Not the ones hoping AI will mean they don’t have to learn it.
What Should You Do Right Now?
If you’re a beginner: Nothing changes today. Keep learning WordPress properly. When WordPress AI features start appearing in plugins and Core over the coming months, you’ll be in a much better position to use them effectively because you understand what’s happening underneath.
If you’re running client sites: Keep an eye on WordPress 7.0 (releasing 9th April). The WP AI Client won’t do anything without configuration, so your existing sites are safe. But start thinking about how AI could streamline your workflow, content suggestions, image generation, site audits.
If you’re a developer: Read the proposal on Make WordPress Core. The API is clean (fluent interface, AI_Client::prompt() entry point, chained methods). If you build plugins, this is the infrastructure you should be building on rather than rolling your own AI integration.
If you’re curious about the MCP Adapter: It’s available on GitHub now. If you’re comfortable with developer tools, you can start experimenting with connecting AI agents to your self-hosted WordPress site.
The Bottom Line
WordPress AI is not a gimmick. WordPress is making a deliberate, structured move by building proper infrastructure that the entire ecosystem can use.
The WP AI Client proposal, the MCP Adapter, the Claude Connector, the AI Leaders programme. They’re all pieces of the same puzzle. WordPress is positioning itself as the platform where AI and the open web come together.
And honestly? For a CMS that powers over 40% of the web, this is exactly the right move in my opinion.
I’ll be covering WordPress 7.0 in detail as it develops. If you want to stay in the loop, make sure you’re subscribed to this newsletter, I break down what matters and skip what doesn’t.
Finally if you didn’t already see it, check out what my thoughts are on the new Elementor 4 beta release we got last week. This is the first Elementor release that I’m, actually looking forward to.