Dennis Xu, a recurring tech startup founder, acknowledges his lack of programming skills. After co-founding Mem, an AI-powered note-taking application that was among OpenAI’s initial venture investments, Xu has embarked on a new venture with the startup Adaptive Computer.
This startup has set an ambitious goal to completely transform personal computer software, offering non-programmers the ability to create fully functional applications simply by entering text prompts into Adaptive’s no-code web-app platform. To realize this vision, Xu and his co-founder, Mike Soylu, have secured a $7 million seed funding round. This round was led by Pebblebed, with participation from investors such as Conviction, Weekend Fund, Jake Paul’s Anti-fund, and Roblox CEO Dave Baszucki. Pebblebed is a new seed fund established by AI engineer Pamela Vagata, formerly of Stripe, and Keith Adams, the former chief architect at Slack.
Before leveraging large language models (LLMs), Xu worked closely with designers and engineers to bring his ideas to life. Having left Mem in 2023, Xu now aims to empower individuals by enabling them to build their personal dream computers in a figurative sense, using Adaptive Computer’s platform.
Adaptive Computer is not focused on hardware but on creating web applications. Its platform handles database creation, user authentication, file management, and offers functionalities such as payment processing via Stripe, scheduled tasks, and AI capabilities like image generation and content analysis.
The product, currently in its “alpha mode” under the name ac1, demonstrates the potential of this technology. For example, upon inputting a text prompt to create a bicycle ride log app, the platform produced a fully functional JavaScript app with a back-end database in mere minutes, requiring no additional configuration.
While the initial app did not integrate with third-party services such as fitness watches, it did automatically include features like sorting rides, calculating total distances, and comparing rides. It was a fully functional website, capable of being shared for others to log rides without sharing personal data.
The concept of “vibe coding,” or writing code based on text prompts, isn’t exclusive to Adaptive Computer. Replit, a competitor, claims over 30 million users and is increasingly focusing on non-programmers. Another entrant, Lovable, a Swedish startup, asserts that its offering surpasses design tools like Figma and claims to have reached $10 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR) within its first two months.
According to Xu, existing products often make programming easier for programmers, which could pose challenges for non-programmers because of technical demands like API keys. Xu emphasizes that Adaptive Computer is designed for everyday individuals interested in personal project creation. Additionally, Adaptive’s applications can integrate with each other, allowing, for instance, a file-hosting app to share files with another app.
Xu describes this integrated platform as more akin to an “operating system” rather than a solitary web application. Early user-generated applications include AI storytelling, a coffee bean e-commerce platform, and a PDF text-to-speech reader.
Adaptive Computer offers three subscription tiers: a limited free version, a $20 per month plan, and a $100 per month Creator/Pro tier.
