Adobe Releases New AI Models Aimed at Improved Graphic Design

Adobe Inc. announced new versions of its generative artificial intelligence model, Firefly, promising higher-quality images and the ability to produce new types of media.

The new edition of its AI model was trained on about 70% more images, which should improve the system’s ability to create photo-realistic images and bring it closer to the output of competitors, said Alexandru Costin, Adobe vice president of generative AI.

The latest version will also include new ways to control and prompt the AI generation, such as uploading an image to replicate its style. Adobe will keep an internal record of the reference images that are uploaded in order to protect artists from infringement, Costin said. The company has branded Firefly as “commercially safe,” saying it will back up customers who face copyright claims in court.

Adobe, the longtime creative software leader, is building AI models trained mostly on its vast library of stock photography, and is trying to gain an edge over startups like OpenAI by integrating the new technology into industry-standard products such as Photoshop. After making the new AI tools generally available, Adobe increased the prices of its software last month. The company introduced the latest versions of its AI tools Tuesday in conjunction with its annual user conference in Los Angeles.

Adoption of the AI features in Photoshop has been 10 times higher than an average major product launch, Costin said. “The way we achieved this with Firefly models — we integrated it natively into the creative workflows.”

Investors have been optimistic about the company’s ability to benefit from AI, sending shares up 57% this year through Monday’s close.

Vectors — scalable computer graphics that are standard in digital design — can now be generated in Adobe’s Illustrator software via a text prompt with the new AI model, Adobe said Tuesday in a statement. This model is also trained on Adobe’s stock library, Costin said, which has “tens of millions” of vector images. Another tool being released will let users create posters and other marketing material, which is often built with a template in Adobe Express, a product that competes with Australian startup Canva Inc.

Contributors to Adobe Stock are paid an annual bonus for having their content used to train the artificial intelligence models, the company has said. Costin said the payment method is based on ingestion of new data, so stock contributors won’t be paid more if their images are included in the training set of more than one model.