[AI Solo Startup Era] Global Craze for "Vibe Coding" Lowers the Barrier to Development

"A Sense of Wonder Like When First Encountering ChatGPT"
Rapid Growth of Replit and Cursor, Empowering Non-Experts to Code
Korean Companies Also Adopting... "Cybersecurity Caution Needed"

The barrier of "development is only for developers" has been broken down globally with the popularization of "Vibe Coding." The word "vibe" means "atmosphere" or "feeling." Vibe Coding is a method where users make conversational requests to artificial intelligence (AI), which then generates the necessary code automatically. Because non-experts can create code simply by speaking, without even touching a keyboard, it is also known as "voice coding."

Kevin Roose, a reporter and author for The New York Times, has also used Vibe Coding. He created an application called "Lunchbox Buddy," which analyzes ingredients in the refrigerator and recommends foods to pack in a lunchbox, using it to prepare his son's school lunches. In addition, he built an app that summarizes podcast broadcasts and another that measures whether furniture will fit in a car trunk. Roose has never learned to code and lacks even basic programming knowledge. He was able to create these programs solely through Vibe Coding, interacting with AI tools in a conversational way.

He wrote, "I don't know how to write a single line of programming language like Python or JavaScript, but Vibe Coding was enough to turn my ideas into apps," adding, "When I enter a command, lines of incomprehensible code flash by, and within seconds, a working prototype is created." He also said, "It was a sense of wonder similar to when I first encountered ChatGPT."

The term "Vibe Coding" was first used by Andrej Karpathy, co-founder of OpenAI. Major tech companies' AI services such as ChatGPT and Copilot also feature code generation capabilities, and there are specialized Vibe Coding platforms like Replit, Cursor, and Lablable. Of course, developing complex systems still requires professional coding knowledge, but we are entering an era where even non-developers can implement simple logic-based applications or services.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman (right) said in an interview last February with Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of the American social media platform Reddit, "In a small group chat with IT CEOs, we bet on when the first year a one-person company will establish a billion-dollar (about 1 trillion KRW) business." Altman predicted, "This is something unimaginable without AI, but now it will become a reality." Ohanian agreed with Altman, calling it a "groundbreaking idea." Alexis Ohanian X

Anysphere, founded in 2022 by graduates of MIT in the United States and now rapidly growing with a valuation of 12 trillion KRW, is gaining global traction with its AI coding support platform "Cursor." Cursor's annual recurring revenue (ARR) has skyrocketed from $1 million (about 1.4 billion KRW) to $100 million (about 140 billion KRW) in just one year, making it one of the fastest-growing companies. Recently, it made headlines by rejecting an acquisition offer from OpenAI. Jeon Sijin, CEO of the one-person company Serial and the official ambassador for Cursor's Korean users, said, "I want to create an environment where even non-developers can actively use Cursor and anyone can realize their ideas." Last month, Jeon established a Korean user community for Cursor, which attracted nearly 500 members within just two weeks.

Korean company LG CNS is also reportedly using Vibe Coding techniques internally for prototype-level apps and small-scale service development. A developer at LG CNS said, "We are breaking down the old barrier that 'development is only for developers.' While domain knowledge is still needed for complex system development, we are entering an era where even non-developers can implement simple logic-based apps or services." Another developer added, "Many developers are already collaborating with AI in their work, and in the future, an environment will be created where even complex systems can be built using only Vibe Coding."

However, just as documents created with ChatGPT serve as "drafts" that require human revision, programs made with Vibe Coding are still at the stage of providing only a basic framework. Shalini Hakkar, who leads AI product research at IBM, pointed out the limitations of Vibe Coding, saying, "It can be vulnerable to cybersecurity issues, and there is a need to detect and fix errors and bugs," and "If services are not regularly maintained and managed by humans, problems can arise."