Figma introduces 'vibe-coding' AI software design feature

From left, Steven Levy, Wired editor at large, and Dylan Field, co-founder and CEO of Figma, speak onstage at Wired's The Big Interview event in San Francisco on Dec. 3, 2024.Kimberly White | Wired | Getty ImagesDesign software startup Figma on Wednesday debuted an artificial intelligence feature to automate the process of building websites and applications.The new feature, called Figma Make, is the company's response to the rise of "vibe-coding" tools, which turn a short written description into the source code necessary for a website. Google and Microsoft have both touted their own "vibe-coding" tools this year. OpenAI has also entered the space, holding acquisition talks with one startup in the space, Windsurf, and reaching out to another called Cursor on multiple occasions, CNBC reported.The move might draw additional business to Figma, which confidentially filed for an initial public offering last month.Many of today's "vibe-coding" products offer a free tier for light use before requesting payment. Figma Make will only be available to those with full seats that start at $16 per person per month when purchased annually. The company is beta-testing the feature with those users.People with premium subscriptions likely work for companies that store font sizes, color combinations and other design assets in Figma. Over time, the new feature will be able to create designs that adhere to those design systems.Figma's new tool relies on Anthropic's Claude 3.7 Sonnet AI model. For those who don't want to start from scratch, Figma Make can alternatively accept Figma design files as an input and generate code that approximates them. Third-party products such as Vercel's v0 and StackBlitz's Bolt.new offer similar capability but can't inherit existing design systems.Like many other "vibe-coding" programs, Figma Make presents a chat box to ask for and receive adjustments of drafts it comes up with. But sometimes a simple fix such as a font change is all that's necessary. Drop-down menus for specific elements allow for quick alterations, meaning that there's no need to consult the AI model again and wait for a response.Customers who received early access to Figma Make got it to craft video games, a note-taking app and a personalized calendar, a spokesperson said.That doesn't mean there's no place for designers inside companies with the advent of AI."The more time has gone on, the more that I'm confident in a designer's role — and believe that it's going to be one of the critical roles in bulding software in the future," Dylan Field, Figma's co-founder and CEO, said in conversation recently with Garry Tan, president and CEO of Silicon Valley startup accelerator Y Combinator.Also on Wednesday, Figma said it was beginning to test Figma Sites, another feature that requires full seats. It can convert designs into working websites. Support for AI code generation will follow in the next few weeks, Figma said.WATCH: The rise of AI 'vibe coding'