Canva continues spending spree by buying one of our favorite AI image generators

Canva has done it again. Months after confirming the purchase of the Affinity graphic design suite, the Australian company has announced the acquisition of one of the best AI image generators we’ve reviewed, Leonardo.ai. 

“Much Like Affinity, Leonardo.ai will continue to develop its web platform for its millions of users – including its business customers”, with financial support from Canva, the company stated.

This latest buy-out is just the latest in a series of moves made by Canva as it attempts to corner the European market and compete with Adobe’s domination of the creative software field. 

Canva x Leonardo

Canva has already imbued its platform with a raft of AI tools, including AI writer Magic Write, and an existing AI art generator. So, what can users expect from the new partnership? 

In a press release, the company confirmed plans to help grow the Leonardo.ai platform, while integrating its technology and Phoenix foundational model into Canva’s existing suite of tools. Expect further investment in this technology and a bigger push into the enterprise space – an area Canva has been keenly courting for some time. And hardcore fans of the genAI service will be pleased to learn that, like Affinity, Canva stated that “Leonardo will continue to operate independently and focus on rapid innovation, model research, and product development.” 

In our recent Leonardo.ai review, we noted that while it wasn’t perfect, with some UI decisions feeling clunky, overall, it impressed us – it’s a feature-rich tool that delivered quality AI image generation fast. As such, we’re excited to see how both platforms advance – especially since Canva boasts one of the best user interfaces we’ve experienced. 

However, some are already pointing out that exactly what data Leonardo’s Phoenix foundational model is trained on remains elusive. We can only hope Canva took note of Adobe’s controversial Terms of Service update a few months ago, which led to a furious backlash from users fearful the creative software giant was using user-generated content to train its Firefly model. 

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