Canva Launches New Generative AI Platform to Enhance Its Expanding Creative Ecosystem

Canva plans to acquire Leonardo.ai, an Australian generative AI content and research startup, as part of its strategy to establish a “world-class suite of visual AI tools.” While financial details are not public, this acquisition will provide Canva with access to Leonardo.ai’s customizable text-to-image and text-to-video generators.

Cameron Adams, Canva's co-founder, stated that Leonardo.ai will continue to develop its web platform as a distinct product, similar to the Affinity creative software suite that Canva acquired in March. The technology and Phoenix foundation model from Leonardo.ai will soon be integrated into Canva’s Magic Studio products, including the Magic Media image and video generator.

Canva aims to diversify its offerings, enhancing its position as a significant competitor to Adobe’s creative software lineup. While the Affinity acquisition bolsters Canva's capabilities against Adobe products like Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign, Leonardo.ai stands to offer a competitive edge against Adobe's Firefly generative AI models.

Leonardo.ai has indicated that its models are trained using licensed, synthetic, and publicly available/open source data. This training disclosure is less specific than Adobe’s for Firefly. Recently, Adobe faced backlash for a policy update requiring them to clarify that user data wouldn’t be used to train their generative AI models. As Canva pursues this acquisition, it has an opportunity to position itself as a viable alternative in the market, but it must navigate potential scrutiny from creators concerned about generative AI.