Adobe’s Very Cautious Gambit to Inject AI Into Everything

Whereas Midjourney Inc. and other generative-AI startups indiscriminately swallowed data from across the internet to power their machines’ imaginations—an intellectual-property fiasco—Adobe mainly trained Firefly on , its database of 300 million stock photos and other visuals that are often licensed to marketers and media companies for ads and articles. But Firefly needed even more photos of everyday items so it could tackle scenes its engine was still struggling with and give its output less of an infomercial, Hampton Inn glaze. Adobe envisioned Firefly becoming the new tool designers and businesses use to produce branding campaigns, product-packaging concepts and more, and said its limitations would prove an advantage. Unlike its competitors, the app refuses prompts that include public figures (Trump, for example), certain words (“arrested”) and even brands (“Hidden Valley ranch”). Instead of manifesting images of a commercial condiment, it offers bucolic pastorals.