Adobe Shockingly Welcomes Third-Party AI Models to the Creative Cloud

Adobe is bringing non-Adobe artificial intelligence (AI) models into its Creative Cloud ecosystem, abandoning its Firefly-only approach in favor of response to community and customer feedback.

At Adobe MAX London, Adobe announced that, alongside its Firefly models, users will be able to choose from a “diverse range” of specialized, non-Adobe AI models. The first third-party solutions are coming to the standalone Adobe Firefly app before becoming available directly in the rest of the Creative Cloud ecosystem, including apps like Adobe Photoshop and Premiere Pro.

Google’s Imagen3 and Veo2, OpenAI’s GPT image generation, and Black Forest Labs’ Flux 1.1 Pro are arriving to Firefly first, with other AI models to follow. Adobe says it is working with other AI companies like fal.ai, Runway, Pika, Luma, and Ideogram, and these expanded model options should arrive “in the coming months.”

“Every generative AI model has a distinct aesthetic and we want to give users more choice and flexibility, especially during the concept phase, to use the right model for their project needs,” Adobe explains in a blog post. “Whether you need the impeccable quality and commercial safety of Adobe’s models or the unique capabilities and aesthetic styles of the non-Adobe models, you can effortlessly compare outputs to find the ideal style for your creative needs.”

In what could be construed as an admission of defeat that customers want options other than Adobe Firefly for image and video generation, Adobe characterizes this surprising move as a consumer-friendly response to feedback. While Adobe Firefly can excel in certain areas, and maintains industry-leading commercial safety, many users find that competing models deliver better and more realistic results. Adobe is, of course, still working on making Firefly better, as evidenced by the debut of Firefly Image Model 4 Ultra at Adobe MAX London.

If users want to use a non-Firefly AI model inside Adobe software, switching models will be as simple as a few clicks. Adobe software will “always be transparent about which model” someone is using, and Content Credentials will be attached to all AI-generated content within the Adobe Creative Cloud ecosystem.

“No matter which model you choose, you can always see whether it was created with Firefly or a non-Adobe model with Content Credentials,” the company promises. Adobe remains committed to responsible AI principles and says its “commitment ensures that every Firefly output is not only visually stunning but also IP-friendly and commercially safe for professional use…” The company will no longer be able to guarantee this promise once users swap models inside Firefly or other Adobe software, creating a somewhat murky situation within the Adobe AI ecosystem built extensively upon commercially safe content generation.

Image credits: Adobe