Paris Hilton vibe coding an app “live” on her channel at the Google HQ with the Android team.
This is the last person in the world you’d expect to go building in-house software. Which makes it the perfect brand campaign for Google, of course.
Thinking of a cliche software engineer, most imagine a bearded, slightly chunky guy in his 30s, or a younger school nerd, with all the connotations of old-school inventors (like Tesla) or innovators (like Einstein).
Picking a glittery, Hollywood celebrity, known for dresses and selfies and fashion parades, and making her an official star in tech – “Icon in residence” being what “Entrepreneur in residence” is in VC/PE – is a massive pivot to a whole new market that’s been trying to penetrate into STEM and making engineering, math, science approachable and enjoyable for half the population.
Great campaign. Massive disruption for engineering, putting ever more stress on the whole vibe model and software engineering principles and security, regulations, data ownership, and more. A larger battle between giants, during the token subsidy moment of cheap access and subscriptions that’s not sustainable just yet.
