Base44 launches its own AI model to build web apps

Base44 began rolling out Base One, its own AI model for building web apps, and said the system was already serving users in production. The Wix-owned startup said the new model was a fine-tuned open-source large language model built for vibe coding and app creation, not a model trained from scratch.

Maor Shlomo, Base44’s founder and chief executive, said the model used reinforcement-learning-driven training on real platform tasks, along with some synthetic data, to improve performance. Base44 is betting that a model tuned to translate natural-language prompts into working applications can outperform general-purpose frontier models on that narrow job, while also lowering inference costs and reducing dependence on outside vendors.

The launch sharpened a question that has become central across the AI startup market: when any company can sit on top of the same foundation models, what makes a business defensible? Base44 is arguing that the answer lies in proprietary usage data, workflow knowledge and product-specific fine-tuning, especially for a platform that already knows how users build apps and websites from prompts. The company has said its system can automatically choose the best model for a project, while also letting users pick one themselves.

The move also extended a rapid run for Base44 since Wix acquired it for about $80 million in June 2025. Wix said at the time that Base44 gave it a stronger AI portfolio and a chat-based application builder that handled databases, authentication and deployment behind the scenes. Wix also pointed to business-to-business partnerships with eToro and SimilarWeb. At the time of the deal, Base44 was a small bootstrapped startup with six to eight employees and no outside funding, and the acquisition structure included additional milestone or earn-out payments through 2029.

Shlomo has framed the model rollout as important for the Israeli AI ecosystem, particularly as U.S. restrictions have made access to some newer AI models more complicated. Base44’s bet is that the app layer may no longer be enough on its own. In a crowded market where foundation models are becoming more available, the company is trying to turn product-specific data and performance into a moat, not just a marketing claim.