Canva's aggressive rollout of generative AI features will significantly hike its subscription costs next year. Canva Teams users globally will see a price increase of over 300%, with US rates jumping from $120 to $500 per year for up to five users, discounted to $300 for the first year. Canva justified this by citing its new AI tools' enhanced "product experience" and value. Some users have criticized the steep price hike and are considering switching to alternatives like Adobe.

Canva is increasing prices for its Teams subscriptions by over 300% due to new generative AI features. Users report prices rising from $120 to $500 annually, though a discount brings it down to $300 for the first year. These changes reflect the value added by AI tools like Magic Media and Magic Expand.

Rising prices for Canva Teams accounts, from $120 to $500 annually, have sparked customer frustration. The company cites new AI features and an expanded product experience as reasons for the price increase and has offered a 40% discount for 12 months. Despite this, Canva still faces backlash, as many question its claims of affordability.

Canva is ramping up its ambitions in the AI design space with strategic moves, including acquiring Leonardo.Ai and partnering with Getty Images. The addition of Leonardo.Ai's generative models boosts Canva's AI capabilities, while Getty Images' vast library provides users access to millions of premium visuals. These strides challenge Adobe's dominance by enhancing Canvas offerings and expanding its user base, particularly among professionals and businesses.

Canva's CEO Melanie Perkins discussed in an interview how the design software company continually innovates to make design accessible and user-friendly, including leveraging AI tools without the tension faced by Adobe. Canva's expansion into enterprise solutions presents a significant redesign to better cater to big businesses while maintaining its mission to democratize creativity. The conversation also touched on Canva's cultural values and the ethical considerations around AI, illustrating the company's dedication to balancing innovation and responsibility.

A breakdown of how Canva kept a user from canceling their premium account. Canva turned a price increase into a marketing tactic by reminding the user that even though prices have increased to $29.99/month, they only have to continue paying $12.95/month. The brand also created loss aversion by reminding the user of the number of times they’ve used premium features. Lastly, Canva added a “Continue cancellation” CTA in a bright red button. Clever UX choice there, as people tend to not click on big red buttons.

Canva has acquired Leonardo.ai, an Australian startup that specializes in generative AI content and research, to enhance its suite of visual AI tools. Financial details of the deal have not been disclosed. The acquisition will integrate Leonardo.ai's technology rapidly into Canva's Magic Studio products while maintaining Leonardo.ai as a separate entity. This move positions Canva to better compete against Adobe, particularly its Firefly generative AI models.

Canva, a popular online editing application, has launched an Enterprise tier for large corporations that features scalable cloud storage, advanced brand controls, and enterprise-level security. It also introduced a redesigned user interface, new Work Kits for different organizational departments, upgraded AI tools in Magic Studio, and new features like variable font support and a stroke width tool.

Canva, an Australian design company, has acquired U.K.-based creative tools company Affinity for an estimated $380 million. Canva aims to expand its user base to include professional designers. The acquisition aligns Canva with Affinity's culture and offers advanced capabilities to compete with Adobe, adding 3 million users and 90 employees to Canva's portfolio.

Canva's acquisition of the Affinity creative software suite fills crucial gaps in its design suite with Affinity's Designer, Photo, and Publisher applications and marks a strategic move to challenge Adobe's dominance in the digital design industry.

Canva has recently introduced significant enhancements to its developer platform, aimed at improving the experience for app developers and users alike. These updates include the integration of premium apps into Canva's Pro subscription, a new translation feature for app content, improved app discoverability, and expanded API functionalities. Since launching its developer program in June 2023, Canva has seen over 300 apps created by developers, which have collectively been used more than 1 billion times. Notable examples include the Meta Design Check app, which assists users in applying best creative practices from Meta. One of the key changes is the introduction of premium apps that will be accessible to users with Pro or higher subscriptions. Previously, developers could charge for their services without Canva taking a cut, but now Canva is offering a monetization model for select developers, supported by a $50 million developer innovation fund that rewards apps based on their usage. To enhance user experience, Canva has revamped how apps are discovered on the platform. Instead of being confined to a separate apps tab, apps will now appear in various sections, including the Text tab, Elements tab, and Photo Editor, as well as within Canva Docs. This change aims to make it easier for users to find and utilize these tools. Additionally, Canva is launching a translation tool that allows users to translate app content into their preferred languages, further broadening accessibility. The new API capabilities include a content query API that enables users to interact with design content and a design editing API that can create design elements based on user prompts. There is also a new authentication API for secure access through Canva accounts and a tables API for creating tables within designs. Anwar Haneef, Canva's GM and Head of Ecosystem, emphasized the careful consideration that went into building the developer platform, particularly regarding data sharing and flexibility for developers. Canva also introduced a Connect API, allowing companies to integrate Canva's functionality into their own environments, exemplified by the recent launch of Canva for Salesforce, which helps sales teams create presentations from customer data. Overall, these updates reflect Canva's commitment to fostering a robust ecosystem for developers while enhancing the user experience through improved app integration and functionality.

A decade after its launch and with over 190 million users, Canva continues revolutionizing design by focusing on workplace collaboration. The refreshed brand system enhances its global identity while allowing for local adaptability. Key updates include a simplified visual style, a more humanized user interface, and increased accessibility.

Consumers now have subscriptions for everything — streaming services, software, and grocery delivery. App subscription fatigue is about to get even worse with AI. Major tech companies are using the AI boom to push consumers toward pricier subscriptions. They're also using consumers' data to help train various gen AI tools, meaning the consumers are effectively paying for these tools twice.

Salesforce is overhauling its AI strategy, introducing generative AI tools for tasks without human supervision and revising its pricing model to $2 per AI-driven conversation. This shift aims to address investor concerns about AI-induced job losses impacting subscription-based revenues. The new AI tools offer higher efficiency and autonomy compared to traditional copilots and chatbots.

Earlier this year, Canva ran an experiment on its “Teams” plan pricing that evaluated two attributes: price per person and minimum commitment. The brand tested 4 variants, ranging from $60-$159.90 per seat and up to 5 minimum seats. The winning plan was $100 per seat with a 3-seat minimum. The results suggest that showing the cost per seat, rather than a total for all seats, is a better strategy. Additionally, round numbers (e.g. $100) can actually perform better than lesser non-round numbers (e.g. $99.90).

Autodesk, renowned for its 3D modeling software, faces backlash from artists over its new generative AI model for 3D design, reminiscent of Adobe's controversial approach with its users. Its experimental "Bernini" project, which can create 3D shapes from various inputs, has sparked concerns about the company's commitment to its core user base.

Adobe's recent marketing for Photoshop's AI features, such as “generate background”, has sparked backlash from photographers. The controversy began when Adobe's website suggested users could “skip the photoshoot” by using AI to add or replace backgrounds, which many photographers saw as undermining their profession. Adobe has since removed the contentious language and emphasized that its AI tools are meant to enhance, not replace human creativity. This issue reflects broader tensions between creatives and tech companies over the impact of AI on creative jobs.

Procreate, an iPad design app, has decided not to incorporate generative AI tools into its products. The move has been welcomed by digital creatives concerned about AI using their content without consent. This decision and Procreate's commitment to a one-time purchase model and expansion into animation and desktop products have bolstered its positive reputation among creatives.

Meta has unveiled a set of new generative AI features for advertisers, including image and text generators that speed up creative production. The offerings address a demand among marketers for a greater sense of control in their AI experiments and a guarantee that the end results will meet specific internal brand guidelines, like ensuring the correct colors are present in ads. Meta is also expanding its AI-powered text generation to ad headlines in addition to primary text.

Figma's new AI features, particularly its 'make' tooling and layer renaming, sparked mixed reactions in the design community. While some functionalities are practical, there needs to be more concern over the impact on creativity and job security. The core issue is the commoditization of design, as AI-generated content risks diluting originality. Exploring how to maintain human uniqueness in design is crucial amidst these changes.

Cara, a new AI-skeptical artist portfolio app, has surged to hundreds of thousands of users. It provides a platform for artists to share their work while preventing AI-generated content. Developed by photographer Jingna Zhang and a small team, Cara integrates Glaze, a tool from the University of Chicago's SAND Lab, to protect original art from being used in AI training. Over the weekend, the app's user base skyrocketed to over 300,000, propelling it into the Top 5 in Apple's U.S. App Store, despite growing pains in scaling its servers.

The FTC is suing Adobe for deceptive practices, accusing it of forcing consumers into year-long subscriptions with hidden fees. Price hikes and concerning terms-of-service updates have further fueled discontent among users, including Adobe's employees. As criticisms and alternative software suggestions circulate, the company's reputation faces significant challenges, compounded by allegations of misleading terms and AI ethics issues.

Salesforce says that its AI tools can handle tasks without human supervision. The company plans to charge $2 per conversion held by its new generative AI agents. Salesforce is insulating itself from customer job cuts by pricing its new AI features based on outcomes rather than the number of employees using it. Its new AI agents will allow companies to increase their workforce capacity during busy periods without having to hire additional full-time employees or gig workers.

While AI applications offer new capabilities to users, the pricing is mostly the same as traditional software applications. Most AI apps use subscription models, often based on the number of users. Free versions or trials are common to drive initial adoption. A new pricing model that AI could help facilitate is success-based pricing, where the user gets charged only when the product delivers a successful outcome.

Cara, an anti-AI social app for artists, surged from 40,000 to 650,000 users in a week as artists fled Meta's exploitative AI policies, seeking a safer space to share their work. Founder Jingna Zhang, a renowned photographer and advocate for artists' rights, has positioned Cara as a haven for creatives to display their portfolios without fear of AI misuse.

Adobe has updated its terms of service in response to intense backlash to clarify that user content stored locally or in the cloud, except for contributions to Adobe Stock, will not be used to train its generative AI. This revision aims to eliminate confusion and address concerns about content privacy and legality checks for cloud-stored data.

Figma is launching AI-powered features, from automating tedious tasks to providing advanced search capabilities, to enhance design workflows by aiding creative processes. These Tools will be free to all users during the beta phase. The pricing structure will be clarified before general release in 2024. Figma is committed to data privacy and gives admins control over their team's content usage for AI training, with robust security measures ensuring the protection of user data.

The recent updates to Figma, including new AI features and a redesigned interface, have frustrated many designers. Critics argue that Figma is prioritizing profit and appealing to non-designers at the expense of usability and the needs of its core design community, leading to concerns about the product's future direction.

A recent change to Adobe's terms and conditions has caused outrage among professional users who are concerned that the company now claims to access, use, and sublicense its content. Adobe requires users to agree to these new terms to continue using their apps, preventing access until they do so. Professionals, including designers and directors, have expressed strong objections, citing potential breaches of confidentiality and intellectual property rights, and some are considering switching to alternative software.

Adobe is set to introduce generative AI tools into Premiere Pro, including features like Generative Extend, Object Addition and Removal, and Text to Video. It aims to enhance the editing process by seamlessly integrating AI technology directly into the platform, with a focus on providing real-time solutions and streamlining workflows for video editors.