Canva is poised to join the ever-growing list of companies incorporating generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) into their offerings with the acquisition of Leonardo.AI.
One of Australia’s fastest-growing startups, and a leading GenAI content creation and research company, Leonardo.AI offers AI-generated images and videos, produced quickly from simple prompts.
Users can generate images in their chosen aesthetic and custom-train models with their own datasets, which directly plays into Canva’s product offering, a drag-and-drop content creation platform built to make design easy and accessible.
Keeping up with ever-evolving industry
“We’re thrilled to welcome Leonardo.AI to Canva – two Australian companies joining forces to bring world-first breakthroughs in AI and creativity," said Cameron Adams, co-founder and chief product officer of Canva.
“This field is constantly evolving and Leonardo’s technical leadership and community impact can’t be overstated.
“Bringing our worlds together will accelerate each of our teams' work, taking us from strength to strength, and we can’t wait to get started.”
The demand for AI-driven design tools exploded in 2023, with Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) searches for the tools increasing 1700% from 2022 to 2023.
Researchers predict the use of these tools and software will have a profound impact on the industry, both creating new opportunities and reducing the labour hours spent on design tasks.
This is likely to have double-edged consequences, reducing time, money and effort needed to complete design projects while also reducing the overall market demand and remuneration levels for those with design skills.
That said, the market for AI design tools is growing quickly. The global market was valued at US$4.4 billion in 2023, growing at a compounding annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19.6% to US$26.5 billion by 2033.