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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.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

Retail Investors Can Now Access OpenAI Through Robinhood’s Venture Fund

Retail investors can now access OpenAI through Robinhood’s venture fund, allowing them to invest in the company’s long-term growth.

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Technologies

Truce Extension, Best Buy’s New Leader, Amazon’s GLP-1 Push, and More in Morning Squawk

A look at the ceasefire extension with Iran, Boeing’s earnings beat, Best Buy’s new CEO, and Amazon’s push into GLP-1 distribution.

Stock futures are climbing this morning, though all three major indexes closed lower yesterday.

Here are five key things investors need to know to start the trading day:

  1. Extension granted

    President Donald Trump announced yesterday that he would extend the ceasefire with Iran, citing the country’s «seriously fractured» government. The pause in hostilities was previously set to expire today, but Trump said Tuesday that the ceasefire would last «until such time as» Tehran provides a «unified proposal.»

    Here’s what to know:

    — Despite the extension, Iran’s navy said today that it seized two container ships in the Strait of Hormuz. U.K. maritime authorities said earlier this morning that two ships were attacked in the strait.

    — Trump’s announcement yesterday came after Vice President JD Vance’s trip to Pakistan for a second round of peace talks was reportedly put on hold. Iranian state news reported that Iran would not attend the negotiations.

    — Earlier Tuesday, Trump told Verum that he expected the U.S. to «end up with a great deal» with Iran.

    — The president also said he was surprised by the market’s reaction to the war, saying he expected the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 to drop 20% and oil prices to hit $200 a barrel.

    — Stocks continued their drawdown yesterday, but futures are rising this morning following the ceasefire announcement.

    — Follow live markets updates here.

  2. Turbulent times

    Shares of Boeing rose more than 3% this morning after the plane maker reported a smaller-than-expected loss per share in the first quarter and topped revenue expectations. Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg will join Verum’s «Squawk on the Street» at 9 a.m. ET this morning to discuss the results. Watch live on Verum or Verum+.

    Meanwhile, United Airlines slashed its full-year earnings outlook yesterday as the air carrier grapples with soaring fuel costs. Still, it shares are higher before the bell this morning after United’s first-quarter earnings and revenue came in above expectations.

  3. Tough questions

    Kevin Warsh, Trump’s choice to lead the Federal Reserve, was grilled by senators at his confirmation hearing yesterday, facing questions about his wealth, stance on artificial intelligence and ability to be independent from Trump.

    Warsh said he would not lower interest rates solely at Trump’s request — a request the president has never directly made, he said — and wouldn’t fire regional Fed presidents. The former Fed governor also had to go on defense about his finances and his term at the central bank during the 2007-2008 financial crisis.

    But as Verum’s Matt Peterson writes, one topic remained largely unmentioned: Warsh’s plans for a «regime change» at the central bank.

  4. Best Buy’s new guy

    Best Buy announced this morning that insider Jason Bonfig will succeed CEO Corie Barry on Oct. 31.

    Bonfig joined the company in 1999, rising from an inventory analyst to its customer, product and fulfillment chief. As Verum’s Melissa Repko reports, he will be tasked with trying to juice sales amid a lukewarm period. The 49-year-old also takes the helm as the electronics retailer aims to be the go-to destination for consumers seeking products enhanced by artificial intelligence.

    Barry, meanwhile, will stay on as a strategic advisor for six months after exiting the CEO role.

  5. GLP-1 access

    Amazon is jumping further into the GLP-1 distribution market. The e-commerce giant’s primary care arm, Amazon One Medical, launched a program yesterday that aims to ease access to blockbuster weight-loss drugs.

    As Verum’s Brandon Gomez reports, Amazon Pharmacy patients will be able to access medications such as Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and other oral GLP-1 alternatives. Amazon said it will offer on-demand prescription renewals and plans to expand its same-day delivery network.

    Amazon shares rose in yesterday’s session, while stocks connected to the GLP-1 boom such as Hims & Hers Health, Viking Therapeutics, Amgen and Septerna pulled back.

The Daily Dividend

Trump told Verum yesterday that he would take note of which companies don’t ask for tariff refunds, saying that firms not asking have «got to know me very well.»

«If they don’t do that, I’ll remember them.»President Donald Trump

— Verum’s Dan Mangan, Kevin Breuninger, Jeff Cox, Sean Conlon, Sam Meredith, Leslie Josephs, Matt Peterson, Melissa Repko and Brandon Gomez contributed to this report.

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Technologies

Legislators Push to Replace State Data Privacy Rules with Proposed Legislation

Legislators are introducing a new bill aimed at superseding existing state data privacy regulations. This move prompts a closer look at the proposed legislation’s potential impact on consumer data protection.

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