Adobe Rewards Stock Contributors with Bonuses for Content Used in Firefly Training

Adobe has officially launched its Firefly generative AI models to the public. What sets Firefly apart from other image generation models is that it has been trained exclusively on content either in the public domain or licensed through Adobe Stock, the company's stock image service. However, from the start, there have been concerns about how Adobe would compensate the photographers and illustrators whose work contributed to Firefly's training. These artists risk losing business if users opt to generate unique images with Firefly rather than purchasing traditional stock photos.

Today, Adobe announced that all eligible Adobe Stock contributors, whose photos, vectors, or illustrations are included in the standard and premium Stock collections, will receive an annual bonus. This initial bonus will cover the period from June 2, 2022, to June 3, 2023, which refers to the dataset used to train Firefly.

While it’s challenging to track how frequently individual images contributed to the generation of new images in Firefly, Adobe is applying a proxy method for this calculation. Alexandru Costin, Adobe’s VP for Generative AI and Sensei, shared that the formula considers both the total number of assets in the training dataset and the number of assets licensed, gauging their popularity and commercial success as an indicator of their market value.

Unfortunately, Adobe did not disclose specific figures or estimates regarding the total funds allocated for these bonuses. A company spokesperson clarified that the bonus amounts vary significantly based on the contributor’s individual content volume and its usage, making it difficult to determine an average payout. Adobe has committed to providing more details regarding the overall bonus pool as they become available.