Figma has turned its AI shaders from a static novelty into a working motion-and-code tool. A September 1 update adds motion, a code viewer, community publishing, and MCP export to its generative plugins and shaders.
HyCanvas is a free, self-hostable, AI-native design platform that positions itself as an open Canva alternative, covering graphics, slides, video, and more with bring-your-own-key AI.
Figmaboy is an open-source, local-first Figma clone with OpenAI's Codex CLI built directly into the canvas. Instead of generating flat images, its MCP server lets Codex inspect and edit real frames, layers, and components in your live document.
Figma updated Make with voice-to-text prompt dictation, a Zapier connector for 9,000-plus apps, question cards, and version history. Figma Draw also gained auto layout and a text-on-path tool.
Freepik officially rebranded as Magnific on April 28, 2026, hitting $230M ARR with no outside investment. Inside the model-agnostic aggregator bet, the no-collar economy, and what 1 million paying subscribers means for creative AI.
On April 28, Figma added multiple new ways for designers to supply reference images when using AI to generate or edit images inside Figma.
Google released DESIGN.md as open source on April 23, 2026, a machine-readable format that gives AI agents a structured blueprint for brand-consistent design.
ComfyUI added Quiver Arrow 1.1 as a Partner Node on April 20, 2026, bringing structured SVG generation to open-source visual workflows for the first time.
Canva launched Magic Layers on March 13, 2026, a beta feature that converts flat AI-generated images into fully editable multi-layer designs