Technologies

Adobe: Our New Generative AI Will Help Creative Pros, Not Hurt Them

The Firefly tools begin with image creation and font styling but soon will spread to Photoshop and other software.

In 2022, OpenAI’s Dall-E service wowed the world with the ability to turn text prompts into images. Now Adobe has built its own version of this generative AI technology with tools that begin a technological overhaul of the company’s widely used creative tools.

On Tuesday, Adobe released the first two members of its new Firefly collection of generative AI tools for beta testing. The first tool creates an image based on a text prompt like «fierce alligator leaping out of the water during a lightning storm,» with hundreds of styles that can tweak results. The other applies prompt-based styles to text, letting people create letters that look hairy, scaly, mossy or however else they want.

Firefly for now is available on Adobe’s website, but the company will build generative AI directly into other tools, starting with its Photoshop image editing software, Illustrator for designs and Adobe Express for creating quick videos. The company hasn’t revealed its pricing approach for the new tools.

Creative professionals might see Firefly as an incursion into their creative domain, going beyond mechanical tools like selecting colors and trimming videos into the heart and soul of their jobs. With AI showing new smarts when it comes to translating documents, interpreting tax code, composing music and creating travel itineraries, it’s not irrational for professionals to feel spooked.

Like other AI fans, though, Adobe sees artificial intelligence as the latest digital tool to amplify what humans can do. For example, Firefly eventually could let people use Adobe tools to tailor designs to individuals instead of just creating one design for a broad audience, said Alexandru Costin, vice president of Adobe’s generative AI work.

«We don’t think AI will replace creative creators. We think that creators using AI will be more competitive than creators not using AI. This is why we want to bring AI to the fingertips of all our user base,» Costin said. «The only way to succeed in AI is to embrace it.»

Adobe’s Firefly products are trained from the company’s own library of stock images, along with public domain and licensed works. The company has worked to reduce the bias in training data that AI models can reflect, for example that business executives are male.

AI is a «sea change»

Artificial intelligence uses processes inspired by human brains for computing tasks, trained to recognize patterns in complex real-world data instead of following traditional and rigid if-this-then-that programming. With advances in AI hardware, software, algorithms and training data, the field is advancing rapidly and touching just about every corner of tech.

The latest flavor of the technology, generative AI, can create new material on its own. The best known example, ChatGPT, can write software, hold conversations and compose poetry. Microsoft is employing ChatGPT’s technology foundation, GPT-4, to boost Bing search results, offer email writing tips and help build presentations

AI tools are sprouting up all over. Adobe has used AI for years under its Sensei brand for features like recognizing human subjects in Lightroom photos and transcribing speech into text in Premiere Pro videos. EbSynth applies a photo’s style to a video, HueMint creates color palettes and LeiaPix converts 2D photos into 3D scenes.

But it’s the new generative AI that brings new creative possibilities to digital art and design.

«It’s a sea change,» said Forrester analyst David Truog.

An illustration Adobe's use of generative AI to style the letter N so it looks mossy, golden, or made or thousands of red particles. — One of the first members of Adobe’s Firefly family of generative AI tools will style text based on prompts like «the letter N made of gold with intricate ornaments.»

Adobe

Alpaca offers a Photoshop plug-in to generate art, and Aug X Labs can turn a text prompt into a video. Google’s MusicLM converts text to music, though it’s not open to the public. Dall-E captured the internet’s attention with its often fantastical imagery — the name marries Pixar’s WALL-E robot with the surrealist painter Salvador Dalí.

Related tools like Midjourney and Stability AI’s Stable Diffusion spread the technology even further.

If Adobe didn’t offer generative AI abilities, creative pros and artists would get them from somewhere else.

Indeed, Microsoft on Tuesday incorporated Dall-E technology with its Bing Image Creator service.

Training AIs isn’t easy, but it’s getting less difficult, at least for those who have a healthy budget. Chip designer Nvidia on Tuesday announced that Adobe is using its new H100 Hopper GPU to train Firefly models through a new service called Picasso. Other Picasso customers include photo licensing companies Getty Images and Shutterstock.

Legal engineering

Developing good AI isn’t just a technical matter. Adobe set up Firefly to sidestep legal and social problems that AI poses.

For example, three artists sued Stability AI and Midjourney in January over the use of their works in AI training data. They «seek to end this blatant and enormous infringement of their rights before their professions are eliminated by a computer program powered entirely by their hard work,» their lawsuit said.

Getty Images also sued Stability AI, alleging that it «unlawfully copied and processed millions of images protected by copyright.» It offers licenses to its enormous catalog of photos and other images for AI training, but Stability AI didn’t license the images. Stability AI, DeviantArt and Midjourney didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Adobe wants to assure artists that they needn’t worry about such problems. There are no copyright problems, no brand logos, and no Mickey Mouse characters. «You don’t want to infringe somebody else’s copyright by mistake,» Costin said.

The approach is smart, Truog said.

«What Adobe is doing with Firefly is strategically very similar to what Apple did by introducing the iTunes Music Store 20 years ago,» he said. Back then, Napster music sharing showed demand for online music, but the recording industry lawsuits crushed the idea. «Apple jumped in and designed a service that let people access music online but legally, more easily, and in a way that compensated the content creators instead of just stealing from them.»

Adobe also worked to counteract another problem that could make businesses leery, showing biased or stereotypical imagery.

It’s now up to Adobe to convince creative pros that it’s time to catch the AI wave.

«The introduction of digital creativity has increased the number of creative jobs, not decreased them, even if at the time it looked like a big threat,» Costin said. «We think the same thing will happen with generative AI.»

Editors’ note: CNET is using an AI engine to create some personal finance explainers that are edited and fact-checked by our editors. For more, see this post.

Technologies

The Duskbloods Is New FromSoftware Gaming Action Coming to Switch 2 in 2026

Talk about a surprise for the new Switch.

FromSoftware had a big day with the Switch 2 Direct. The company revealed a new game called The Duskbloods and confirmed that its smash-hit action RPG Elden Ring is coming to the new console, which launches on June 5 for $450.

The Duskbloods is exclusive to the Switch 2, which was a surprise announcement during the Switch 2 Direct. According to FromSoftware, the game is a player vs. player vs. enemy, or PvPvE, online multiplayer game similar to the developer’s upcoming Elden Ring: Nightreign.

Players will be part of the Bloodsworn, which is a group that has «transcended human strength thanks to their special blood.» Each individual will be playing against each other as well as taking on other foes.

The game features some mainstays for FromSoftware games, with a gothic tone and a focus on gore, like its popular Bloodborne game for the PS4. It does appear that characters have a few more abilities than seen in previous games from the cult developer.

The Duskbloods will release sometime in It will be released in 2026.

The Switch 2 will launch on June 5 and preorders will start on April 9 at retailers. The new console will feature plenty of third-party support, with major games like Borderlands 4, Madden and Civilization 7 coming from other publishers.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Thursday, April 3

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for April 3.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword has two similar clues, 5-Across and 6-Across. They both play off the same idea — using the first part of two words to make one, all food-related. I didn’t get that at first, so I struggled with those two clues. Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? Read on. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

The Mini Crossword is just one of many games in the Times’ games collection. If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get at those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Hit the ___ (go to bed)
Answer: SACK

5A clue: Misleading name for a sub/shish kebab restaurant?
Answer: SUSHI

6A clue: Misleading name for a taco/pasta restaurant?
Answer: TAPAS

7A clue: Certain sports bets
Answer: OVERS

8A clue: Cooped (up)
Answer: PENT

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Almost *too* sophisticated and charming
Answer: SUAVE

2D clue: Upscale Colorado skiing destination
Answer: ASPEN

3D clue: Word after bar or pie
Answer: CHART

4D clue: Smooch
Answer: KISS

5D clue: Word on an eight-sided traffic sign
Answer: STOP

How to play more Mini Crosswords

The New York Times Games section offers a large number of online games, but only some of them are free for all to play. You can play the current day’s Mini Crossword for free, but you’ll need a subscription to the Times Games section to play older puzzles from the archives.

Technologies

Nintendo Switch 2: Everything We Know About the Console, New Games, Release Date

The $450 console will get Mario Kart World at launch, 4K gaming when docked, Switch 2 Edition game enhancements and new mouse controls.

The Nintendo Switch 2 console’s biggest reveal yet arrived Wednesday morning as part of the company’s Nintendo Direct event. This teed up a day of Switch 2 reveals that include its June 5 release date, a $450 price, its specs, and its initial game lineup that extends from launch into 2026.

The console will be further buoyed by having Mario Kart World as a launch title, which will go on sale in either a $500 bundle with the Switch 2 or on its own for $80 — making the open-world racing game one of Nintendo’s most expensive yet. Other games announced, such as Donkey Kong Bananza, are being priced around $70, which matches the cost of 2023’s The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. That Zelda game and Breath of the Wild are among the original Switch titles that will get enhanced Nintendo Switch 2 Edition upgrades, a premium upgrade allowing players to get new features, modes and graphical enhancements that take advantage of the newer system’s capabilities.

Here are the top highlights from Nintendo’s console event, all of the games we’ve heard about so far (including new titles, Nintendo Switch 2 Edition titles and GameCube games coming to Nintendo Switch Online) and all of our coverage so far. You can also check out our Nintendo Switch 2 live blog for even more updates about the Switch 2 as we learn them.

Nintendo Switch 2 console

The Nintendo Switch 2’s specs saw a noticeable technical bump over the Switch. The Nintendo Switch 2 has a 7.9-inch, 1080p resolution LCD that supports a 120Hz refresh rate — matching what we now see on most Android phones. When the Switch 2 is docked, compatible games can run in 4K resolution. The new dock also includes a cooling fan.

The Switch 2 comes with 256GB of internal storage, and the new Switch 2 Game Cards will load games faster. For digital libraries, however, the Switch 2 will only work with microSD Express cards, which are different from the microSD cards that are compatible with the prior Nintendo Switch. Nintendo will have a Software Transfer feature available to help move games and data from the original Switch to the Switch 2.

The new Joy-Con for the controllers will support mouse controls, and a new C button will be part of a new GameChat communication feature that allows both voice and video chat. There’s also a Nintendo Switch 2 Camera, allowing players to see each other.

The Switch 2 also adds a second USB-C port to the top of the system, which Nintendo says can help connect its new camera accessory or charge the console when playing in tabletop mode. Nintendo also revealed a new Switch 2 Pro Controller with the C button and customizable GL and GR buttons on the back.

Following the presentation, Nintendo unveiled the system’s price of $450 in the US. It will also sell the Switch 2 bundled with a digital version of Mario Kart World for $500.

Mario Kart World

Mario Kart World removes its traditional boundaries and lets drivers roam freely across an entire world of race courses. The game will get its own Nintendo Direct later this month, where we’ll see additional details, but we already know it’ll include traditional races and a Free Roam mode, much like in the Forza Horizon series.

Getting the game bundled for an extra $50 on the cost of the Switch 2 might be the move if you are interested in the game, because Nintendo announced on its website that standalone copies of Mario Kart World will cost $80.

Joy-Con 2 C button and GameChat

Nintendo’s rolling out its new C button across several new Switch 2 controllers. The button will be used for the new GameChat communication features without a headset. The button will be used alongside a microphone on the console itself, which Nintendo says can be used whether it’s docked to a TV or in handheld mode.

In its teaser video, Nintendo promises the microphone will be able to cancel out loud background noises. GameChat will also work with a Nintendo Switch 2 Camera, allowing video chat and various camera-based game modes in supported titles. GameChat will be free at launch through March 31, 2026.

Nintendo Switch 2 Edition games upgrade titles

The Nintendo Switch 2 will play three types of games: original Switch games, Switch 2 games and Switch 2 Edition games that will receive substantial enhancements. For many of these Switch 2 Edition games, you’ll need to buy an upgrade pack if you own the original for Switch. Many of them will get more than just enhanced graphics in the upgrade; for example, Super Mario Party Jamboree will get new games that support the new Joy-Cons’ mouse controls, audio recognition and video camera gameplay options through the Switch 2 Camera.

Other Nintendo Switch games that are getting Switch 2 Edition options include The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild, The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom, Kirby and the Forgotten Land, Metroid Prime 4 Beyond and Pokemon Legends: Z-A. Enhancements vary: The Zelda games will start working with a companion phone app for maps and sending schematics to friends, while Kirby will get a new story that’s exclusive to the Switch 2 Edition. On the third-party side, Civilization 7 will get mouse controls.

Nintendo did not announce what upgrade packs will cost. However, some Switch games will get free updates that will improve performance or enhance features when playing them on the Switch 2. The Switch games getting these updates include:

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment is a new game set in the world of Zelda that tells the story that leads into The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. This appears to be similar to how Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity told the story of a war that led to the events of Breath of the Wild. The teaser shows Zelda discovering that she’s arrived in the past of Hyrule, and the game will expand on how she gets involved in the corresponding Imprisonment War.

Nintendo Switch 2 games

Several other first- and third-party games were spotlighted during the Switch 2 Direct. These include Donkey Bananza, one of the first 3D platforming games featuring DK since 1999’s Donkey Kong 64. Kirby will also return to the racing genre in Kirby Air Riders, which comes more than 20 years after the GameCube racer Kirby’s Air Ride. DragXDrive will use mouse controls to control a futuristic wheelchair basketball game in which players will simulate push and pull motions to control their character.

An onslaught of Switch 2 third-party games were quickly shuffled through during the Direct, which I list below. An unnamed James Bond game is in development at Hitman studio IO Interactive, as is a darker title from Elden Ring creator FromSoftware called The Duskbloods, which will be exclusive to the Switch 2.

The full list of announced Nintendo Switch 2 games includes:

Borderlands 4
Bravely Default Flying Fairy HD Remaster
Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition
Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion
Deltarune
Donkey Kong Bananza
Drag x Drive
EA Sports FC
EA Sports Madden NFL
Elden Ring Tarnished Edition
Enter the Gungeon 2
Fast Fusion
Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade
Fortnite
Hades 2
Hitman World of Assassination — Signature Edition
Hogwarts Legacy
Hollow Knight: Silksong
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment
Kirby Air Riders
Kirby and the Forgotten Land — Nintendo Switch 2 Edition and Star-Crossed World
Kunitsu-Gai: Path of the Goddess
Mario Kart World
Metroid Prime 4: Beyond — Nintendo Switch 2 Edition
NBA 2K
Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour
Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening Complete Edition
Pokemon Legends: Z-A — Nintendo Switch 2 Edition
Project 007
Puyo Puyo Tetris 2S
Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma — Nintendo Switch 2 Edition
Sid Meier’s Civilization 7 — Nintendo Switch 2 Edition
Split Fiction
Star Wars Outlaws
Starseeker: Astroneer Expeditions
Street Fighter 6
Super Mario Party Jamboree — Nintendo Switch 2 Edition and Jamboree TV
Survival Kids
The Duskbloods
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild — Nintendo Switch 2 Edition
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom — Nintendo Switch 2 Edition
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 and 4
WWE 2K
Yakuza 0 Definitive Edition

Among these titles, you can see the full list of June 5 Switch 2 launch day games here.

Nintendo GameCube library coming to Switch 2

The Nintendo Switch Online game library will add GameCube games to the Switch 2. On launch day, these games will initially include The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, SoulCalibur 2 and F-Zero GX, with each game getting enhanced graphics. Online multiplayer will also be added to certain titles. Super Mario Sunshine, Super Mario Strikers and Luigi’s Mansion are among the games set to arrive later. At launch, Nintendo will also sell a GameCube controller, which will be wireless and include a C button for GameChat.