Adobe plans mobile app for Firefly AI image generator to rival OpenAI

LONDON — Adobe plans to launch a mobile version of its artificial intelligence image generation tool Firefly, stepping up a challenge to OpenAI as the Microsoft-backed startup advances its efforts on visual applications for the technology.

The design software giant said Thursday at its MAX creativity conference in London that it will release Firefly on both iOS and Android “soon,” without giving a specific date.

“Creative people think on the go,” Alexandru Costin, vice president of Adobe Firefly, told CNBC in an interview. “One of the visions we have is for the Firefly mobile application to become a creative partner that sits with you all the time.”

Costin said that one way creatives could use its upcoming mobile app was to ask it to sketch up some ideas about an ad campaign while commuting to the office, so that by the time they arrive at work they’ve got a mood board to help them develop their thinking.

Adobe also announced the launch of its latest AI models, Firefly Image Model 4 and Firefly Image Model 4 Ultra, and said its new Firefly Video Model for video generation is now generally available.

The company said the new systems are capable of generating hyper-realistic pictures and videos in response to textual prompts in a “commercially safe” way, blocking the inclusion of any intellectual property.

It marks Adobe’s latest push to incorporate AI into its creative tool suite and comes as the company is increasingly facing competition from well-funded AI firms such as OpenAI and Runway.

Last month, OpenAI released a native image generation feature that went viral online for its ability to produce anime images in the style of animation studio Studio Ghibli and recreate people as toy dolls.

The tool saw such huge levels of demand that OpenAI boss Sam Altman warned it was melting the company’s GPUs (graphics processing units). “It’s super fun seeing people love images in ChatGPT. But our GPUs are melting,” Altman said on March 27.

While Adobe’s Costin conceded that the competitive environment is heating up, he said the company isn’t shying away from partnering with the competition. For example, Adobe has partnered up with the likes of OpenAI, Google and Runway to add their AI image generation tools to Firefly.

“Competition is great,” Costin told CNBC. “We think there will be models with different personalities and capabilities.”

“Third-party partnerships bring us the opportunity to not only compete — it also gives us the benefits of innovation. It’s about understanding the needs of creatives, giving them the technology to help serve their needs,” he added.