Adobe launched a public beta of its AI assistant for Photoshop on March 10, 2026, while simultaneously expanding Firefly with generative editing tools and integrations with 25+ third-party AI models including Runway, OpenAI, and Black Forest Labs.

What Happened

Adobe shipped two major updates on the same day. The Photoshop AI Assistant entered public beta on web and mobile, letting users edit images through natural language prompts. The assistant handles object removal, color changes, lighting adjustments, and background transformations directly from a chat interface. Free users get 20 generations; paid subscribers get unlimited edits until April 9.

At the same time, Firefly gained a unified generative editing workspace with four new core tools: Generative Fill, Generative Remove, Generative Expand, and Generative Upscale. Adobe also added AI Markup, a scribble-and-prompt feature that lets users draw directly on images and instruct the AI to modify the marked area.

Why It Matters

The third-party model integration is the biggest shift. Firefly now offers access to more than 25 AI models including Google's Gemini image generation, OpenAI's image model, Runway Gen-4.5, and Black Forest Labs FLUX.2. Creative professionals can switch between models inside a single Firefly session without leaving Adobe's ecosystem. This turns Firefly from a single-model tool into a multi-model creative hub.

Adobe's strategy here is clear: they want to be the platform layer for AI creative work, not just another model provider. By hosting competitor models, they reduce the reason for creators to leave Creative Cloud for standalone AI tools.

Key Details

  • Photoshop AI Assistant is in public beta on web and mobile as of March 10
  • Natural language editing covers: remove objects, change colors, adjust lighting, crop, enhance shadows, transform backgrounds
  • Firefly now integrates 25+ models including Runway, OpenAI, Google Nano Banana 2, and FLUX.2
  • New generative editing tools: Fill, Remove, Expand, Upscale, and one-click background removal
  • AI Markup lets users scribble on images to mark edit targets
  • Unlimited generations on Firefly image and video models through March 18 for paid subscribers

What to Do Next

If you have a paid Photoshop subscription, the AI Assistant is live now on photoshop.adobe.com. The unlimited generation window runs until March 18, making this the best time to test Firefly's full model range at no extra cost. For teams evaluating AI workflow consolidation, this update makes a strong case for keeping creative work inside Creative Cloud rather than jumping between separate tools.

The full Firefly changelog lists all new features with usage guides.