Jess Weatherbed

Adobe's Project Indigo camera app, originally designed to deliver SLR-like photography on iPhone, is being updated with generative AI tools through a new 'AI Playground' feature. The update does not use Adobe's own Firefly models. The company is testing free access to the suite with a small percentage of users, with an opt-out option available.

Figma announced AI-powered design and development tools at its Config 2026 conference, including a redesigned canvas optimized for full-stack development and AI-generated motion graphics. The updates introduce coding layers that allow developers to edit project code directly within the design canvas, and a chatbot interface for creating animations and transition effects through natural language descriptions. The company frames these tools as ways to automate repetitive tasks and help creative teams work more efficiently.

Google's DeepMind is investing approximately $75 million in A24, the independent film studio, to develop AI-powered movie production tools. This marks Google's first equity stake in a film studio and will span multiple projects focused on helping filmmakers expand their creative workflows. The non-exclusive collaboration aims to create tools shaped by filmmaker input rather than imposed from outside the industry.

Adobe has launched a public beta of AI assistants across five Creative Cloud applications: Photoshop, Premiere, Illustrator, InDesign, and Frame.io. Each app receives a specialized AI assistant powered by Adobe's conversational creative agent, designed to handle app-specific editing and organizational tasks. The rollout represents Adobe's broader strategy to integrate AI capabilities across its entire Creative Cloud suite.

The European Commission has ordered Meta to allow rival AI chatbots free access to WhatsApp while it investigates whether Meta is abusing its market dominance. The interim measure, announced Tuesday, is only the second time the EU has invoked this emergency power in over 20 years. The order follows a formal antitrust investigation launched in December 2025 into Meta's ban on third-party AI assistants from its messaging platform.

The UK Competition and Markets Authority has ruled that Google must allow publishers to opt out of AI Search features, including AI Overviews and the use of their content for fine-tuning AI models. This marks the first regulatory requirement globally forcing a search engine to provide publishers with control over content used in generative AI features. The ruling strengthens publishers' negotiating position with Google over content usage and compensation.

Adobe's Firefly AI Assistant takes a different approach to AI-assisted design by functioning as a conversational agent that operates Adobe's apps rather than generating images from scratch. The tool aims to reduce busywork while preserving user creative control, though early testing suggests the execution falls short of the ambition. The assistant can explain its editing process clearly but produces mediocre results that don't meaningfully advance the creative workflow.

Google Chrome is automatically downloading a 4GB weights.bin file containing the Gemini Nano AI model to users' system folders when certain AI features are enabled, causing unexpected storage depletion on affected devices. The file powers on-device AI tools including scam detection, writing assistance, autofill, and suggestion features. Users discovering unexplained storage loss are now identifying Chrome as the culprit, raising questions about transparency in how the browser deploys large model files without explicit user consent.

Google is rolling out its Gemini AI assistant to vehicles equipped with Google built-in, replacing the current Google Assistant through a software update. The upgrade will apply to both new cars and existing vehicles on the road since 2020, offering improved natural conversation capabilities, vehicle-specific information retrieval, and settings adjustments. Google senior product manager Alankar Agnihotri framed this as fulfilling a commitment that cars with Google built-in would improve over time through software updates.

General Motors will deploy Google's Gemini AI assistant to approximately four million vehicles across Cadillac, Chevrolet, Buick, and GMC brands, targeting model year 2022 and newer vehicles equipped with Google built-in. The upgrade will roll out via over-the-air software updates to GM's infotainment system over several months, replacing the current Google Assistant with what GM describes as a smarter and more intuitive AI assistant. GM characterizes this as one of the largest Gemini deployments in the automotive industry.

Anthropic has released connectors that integrate Claude directly into Adobe Creative Cloud, Affinity, Blender, Ableton, Autodesk, and other creative software. The connectors enable Claude to access, retrieve data from, and execute actions within these applications, allowing users to perform tasks like debugging scenes in Blender, batch-applying object changes, and leveraging AI assistance without leaving their primary creative tools. This move follows Anthropic's recent launch of Claude Design and represents a strategic push to embed Claude into the creative industry workflow.

Google has signed a classified agreement with the US Department of Defense permitting use of its AI models for 'any lawful government purpose,' according to The Information. The deal was announced less than a day after Google employees publicly urged CEO Sundar Pichai to block Pentagon access, citing concerns about potential inhumane or harmful applications. The agreement aligns Google with OpenAI and xAI, which have also secured classified government AI contracts, while Anthropic was reportedly blacklisted by the Pentagon for refusing to meet the Department of Defense's demands.

Canva has released AI 2.0, a major update that centralizes its design and content creation tools around a unified conversational AI interface. The new orchestration layer lets users perform design tasks by describing them in natural language to Canva's AI assistant, rather than navigating separate tools. The update positions Canva as an all-in-one hub for AI-powered creative work, targeting both individual creatives and marketing teams.