The News: Adobe made several announcements about Firefly, its family of creative generative AI models. The announcements focused on the general availability (GA) of Firefly models and the web application, along with the native integration of Firefly into the Adobe Express and Creative Cloud applications. The company also provided details on the content credentials attached to every piece of content within Firefly, its Generative Credits model, and the availability of Firefly for Enterprise. Adobe also announced Adobe GenStudio for Enterprises and the details of its Firefly Contributor Bonus to all eligible Adobe Stock contributors.
You can read a Press Release containing details of the announcements on the Adobe website..
Firefly Announcement Details Adobe Enterprise Generative AI Approach
Analyst Take: It was a busy day for Adobe, as the company announced, on September 13, the general availability of its Firefly models and web application, as well as the native integration of Firefly into Adobe Express and Photoshop and Illustrator in Adobe Creative Cloud. Adobe also introduced Adobe GenStudio for Enterprises, a new application designed to manage the enterprise content supply chain, and, perhaps most interesting, released details on its Firefly Contributor Bonus and its Generative Credits model, which lays out how the company is planning to assign value to its generative AI technology.
These announcements mark the commercial culmination of several months of beta testing of Firefly models by Adobe customers, and the public proclamation on how generative AI will be delivered across its product portfolio. The details on how the company plans to assign value to its generative tools, as well as the announcement of price hikes to Adobe’s core offerings, are reflective of a company that is trying to balance the needs of its customers to experiment with and use its generative AI tools while managing the costs of deploying the technology.
Commercial Availability of Adobe Firefly Models and Web Application
Adobe’s commercial release of Firefly means that all Firefly AI tools are available across its creative suite. These tools include an AI art generator, a generative fill tool that can artificially expand the borders of an image by creating out-of-frame content, as well as AI-based color correction. The company’s all-in-one free tool, Adobe Express, can generate images via text-to-image generative AI, and an AI chatbot interface “co-pilot” that uses text prompts can be used to modify the images. Further, Express users are provided access to AI-animated text, while in Illustrator, there is a new Generative Recolor function that can modify existing images’ color schemes.
The commercial availability of these tools provides two significant benefits for enterprises. First, Firefly pulls content only from its Adobe Stock collection of images, all of which are either properly licensed from creators or are images that are royalty free and in the public domain. Adobe says it will compensate all Adobe Stock contributors who have content in the standard or premium collection with an annual bonus based on the total number of approved images and assets that a contributor has in the collection. However, Adobe is not discussing details of the bonus’ value.
Restricting the generative AI to licensed or public domain images ensures that images generated will not violate copyright holders’ rights. Further, Adobe says that it will indemnify enterprise users against potential lawsuits when they use Firefly-generated images.
Adobe is providing additional confidence by unveiling a system for labeling content that is created or modified by AI. The company’s labeling scheme, Content Credentials, which is being backed by the Content Authenticity Initiative, is automatically applied to AI content’s metadata when the content is created through Adobe’s software suite. This “nutrition label” includes the asset’s name, creation data, and tools used to make it, and is designed to remain associated with that content whenever and wherever it is used, published, or stored.
In addition, Adobe’s integration of Firefly and generative AI tools across all of its products ensures that content creators, designers, and managers can each work with assets across the content workflow without being restricted to a single application. Thus, a marketer can begin a project in Adobe Express, a designer can make edits in Photoshop, and an approver can review and make final edits in the Firefly web application, with no loss of fidelity. This functionality will help organizations improve the speed and efficiency of content generation without the fear of version control issues or content copyright concerns.
Adobe Announces Generative Credit AI Monetization Plan
The commercial release of Firefly is accompanied by the announcement of Adobe’s Generative Credits, which details how generative AI will be monetized. The Firefly web app, Express Premium, and Creative Cloud paid subscriptions each allot a specific number of credits for generating content based on text-based prompts, with extras available on an a la carte basis. These credits essentially equate to a single generation costing a single credit, and the limits reset each month. Adobe has published the number of Generative Credits available within each application.
Adobe Creative Cloud, Adobe Firefly, Adobe Express, and Adobe Stock customers will not be subject to credit limits until November 1. After November 1, once a subscriber burns through their credit allotment, they will still be able to generate images, but the process will run more slowly. However, Adobe will offer additional subscription packs to users who subscribe to Adobe Firefly and Adobe Express Premium, who will only get access to two generations per day until their count resets at the end of the month.
Adobe’s Measured and Strategic Approach to Generative AI
With the commercial launch of Firefly generative AI services, Adobe is taking a smart approach to generative AI. Its approach to ensuring that only licensed or royalty-free images are used in content generation and the deployment of an authentication system indicate that Adobe is concerned with making AI safe to use in an enterprise environment. Intellectual property rights and copyright protection are – and should be – among the top boxes to check when considering enterprise-wide generative AI tools.
Further, Adobe has listened to and acted upon recommendations from users and other market participants, particularly with respect to how it is pricing its generative AI offerings, including assessing the right number of credits to be included within each of its applications.
Adobe also announced price increases that will go into effect after November 1 and affect Creative Cloud users in North America, Central America, South America and Europe, which include those on Individual, Teams, and Enterprise and Reseller plans. The pricing includes the Generative Credit allotments and strikes a reasonable balance between allowing users to experiment with generative AI and establishing a real-world, monetary value attached to the technology.
Disclosure: The Futurum Group is a research and advisory firm that engages or has engaged in research, analysis, and advisory services with many technology companies, including those mentioned in this article. The author does not hold any equity positions with any company mentioned in this article.
Analysis and opinions expressed herein are specific to the analyst individually and data and other information that might have been provided for validation, not those of The Futurum Group as a whole.
Other Insights from The Futurum Group:
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Adobe Revenue for Q2 2023 Rises 10% YoY to Record $4.82 Billion
Firefly, Sensei GenAI Ascendent: Adobe Excels at Generative AI
Author Information
Keith has over 25 years of experience in research, marketing, and consulting-based fields.
He has authored in-depth reports and market forecast studies covering artificial intelligence, biometrics, data analytics, robotics, high performance computing, and quantum computing, with a specific focus on the use of these technologies within large enterprise organizations and SMBs. He has also established strong working relationships with the international technology vendor community and is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and events.
In his career as a financial and technology journalist he has written for national and trade publications, including BusinessWeek, CNBC.com, Investment Dealers’ Digest, The Red Herring, The Communications of the ACM, and Mobile Computing & Communications, among others.
He is a member of the Association of Independent Information Professionals (AIIP).
Keith holds dual Bachelor of Arts degrees in Magazine Journalism and Sociology from Syracuse University.
