AI Is Coming For The Design Stack

InnovationAIAI Is Coming For The Design StackByRon Schmelzer,Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Ron Schmelzer covers AI and data best practices at Forbes since 2018Follow AuthorApr 23, 2026, 03:04pm EDT--:-- / --:--This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.AI is getting involved with designgettyAI has spent two years circling design with models that can generate images as well as outputs such as web pages, slides and documents of different types. Now AI is stepping directly into the design game with new models and product releases that target design processes and tools directly.The use of AI is no longer just about making pretty pictures from prompts or creating output meant primarily for developers. The real fight is over who gets to create the first draft of visual work and who controls the process of what happens next. That matters for Figma and Adobe. It also matters for every company that sells tools to designers, marketers, brand teams, product managers and founders. This new direction came into focus over the past week. Anthropic introduced Claude Design, a research preview that turns Claude into a tool for prototypes, slides, one-pagers and other visual work. OpenAI, almost in parallel, pushed its new image generation further into practical design territory with stronger text handling, editing and layout control in ChatGPT and the API. Adobe responded with its own show of force, widening the role of Firefly and pitching an assistant that can work across Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere, Lightroom, Express and more.Anthropic Is Moving Deeper Into Visual WorkAnthropic says Claude Design can help create polished visual work such as designs, prototypes, slides and one-pagers. This adds to Anthropic’s focus on making their models more powerful and broadly applicable by also making an early bid for the territory occupied by Figma, Canva and slices of Adob...