Adobe Launches Firefly AI Assistant with Multi-App Workflows, Integrates Claude

Gate News message, April 28 — Adobe has begun public testing of Firefly AI Assistant, a new tool capable of completing multistep workflows across multiple creative applications including Photoshop, Lightroom, Illustrator, Express, and Premiere. The company is also building a lighter version for third-party chatbots, starting with Anthropic's Claude.

The assistant allows users to describe their desired outcome through conversational interface rather than manually operating app-specific tools or repeating actions across programs. This move expands Adobe's AI strategy beyond earlier integrations with ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot, which were limited to individual app features.

Adobe's expansion comes amid significant business pressure. The company's CEO stepped down in March 2026 after 18 years, following investor concerns about how Adobe was monetizing AI capabilities. Adobe shares have declined nearly 23% for the year, as investors worry that agentic AI systems capable of completing multistep tasks could undermine the traditional per-seat software pricing model—a scenario some have termed "SaaSpocalypse." Canva, a major competitor, launched its next-generation agentic platform Canva 2.0 on the same day Adobe unveiled Firefly AI Assistant.

Adobe plans to shift toward a usage-based pricing model, with AI features sold through "AI credits," and aims to deploy similar agentic assistants across more of its applications.