You’ll soon be able to generate better images on Canva thanks to Leonardo.ai
Canva on Tuesday acquired Australian artificial intelligence (AI) startup Leonardo.ai. The AI startup uses its own core Phoenix model to generate images, videos and visual assets. The platform also offers features such as AI-powered upscaling, inline editing and real-time image generation. Canva said the Phoenix AI model will be integrated into its Magic Studio tools as part of the acquisition. This is notably the company’s eighth acquisition, following Affinity (2024), Flourish (2022), Kaleido (2021), Smartmockups (2021), Pexels (2019), Pixabay (2019) and Zeetings (2018).
Canva Acquires Leonardo.ai
In a newsroom afterCanva announced the acquisition of Leonardo.ai. Despite acquiring the company, Canva will let the AI startup develop its web platform for its users and enterprise clients, similar to Affinity. However, Canva will integrate the startup’s Phoenix AI model into its Magic Studio tools. The model will primarily be used to improve the performance of its image and video generation capabilities. The company will also invest funding, expertise, and licensed content from the Canva Creators program into Leonardo.ai.
Leonardo AI
Leonardo.ai allows users to generate images in a variety of styles, including hyper-realistic, character portraits, anime, painterly styles, and more. It also features AI-powered image upscaling, real-time image generation, and inline image editing. While the platform has a premium tier with advanced features, but free users can also generate a limited number of images and videos.
Canva claimed that Leonardo’s Phoenix foundation model can generate a high level of prompt compliance, accurate text generation in images, and production-ready assets in a single attempt. No other details were shared about the model’s architecture or the data it was trained on.
Notably, Leonardo was founded in 2022. In two years, the company is said to have amassed more than 19 million registered users on its platform. Canva says the acquisition will not only enhance its offerings but also grow Leonardo’s user base.
