Automattic cuts WordPress contribution hours, blames WP Engine

Jan 11, 2025 01:18 AM - 1 week ago 9322

Automattic, the institution that runs WordPress.com, is scaling backmost its contributions to the WordPress open-source project, according to an announcement connected Thursday. The institution says it’s decreasing contributions to “match” the magnitude of clip companies for illustration WP Engine walk connected the ecosystem, further escalating the hostility betwixt Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg and the community.

Now, alternatively of spending 3,988 hours per week processing the WordPress project, Automattic says it will now lend astir 45 hours arsenic portion of Five for the Future — a programme that encourages companies to springiness backmost 5 percent of their resources to WordPress.org. “These hours will apt spell towards information and captious updates,” Automattic says.

Mullenweg, who besides co-founded WordPress, criticized the third-party big WP Engine for contributing 40 hours a week to the ecosystem and called it a “cancer” to the community. On the Five for the Future page that tracks contributions, the number of hours contributed by Automattic is already dwindling.

Automattic blames the cutback connected the “significant clip and money” related to the ongoing ineligible conflict pinch WP Engine. It besides points to the “intense criticism” it has faced “from members of the ‘community’ who want Matt and others to measurement away” from the WordPress project:

We’ve made the determination to reallocate resources owed to the lawsuits from WP Engine. This ineligible action diverts important clip and power that could different beryllium directed toward supporting WordPress’s maturation and health. We stay hopeful that WP Engine will reconsider this ineligible attack, allowing america to refocus our efforts connected contributions that use the broader WordPress ecosystem.

WP Engine sued Automattic and Mullenweg past twelvemonth aft the co-founder waged a nationalist run against the institution and took complete its ACF plugin. A judge later granted a preliminary injunction successful favour of WP Engine, saying Mullenweg’s “conduct is designed to induce breach aliases disruption.”

A number of labor besides near Automattic past twelvemonth aft the institution offered to bargain retired staff who didn’t work together pinch its conflict against WP Engine. The institution besides shuttered its sustainability squad this week, pinch a screenshotted Slack message from Mullenweg saying, “it’s astir apt a bully clip to officially dissolve the squad entirely,” adding that “it doesn’t look for illustration creating a squad astir this was capable to further immoderate of its goals.” The move has sparked disapproval from the community, including journalist Kara Swisher.