Canva acquires Leonardo.AI to enhance its AI design tools

Canva has announced its acquisition of Leonardo.AI, a generative artificial intelligence content production platform. This move marks a significant milestone for Canva, which has been seeing rapid growth and adoption of its AI products globally. The acquisition aims to bolster Canva's ability to push the boundaries of design and visual AI.

Leonardo.AI has a user base of more than 19 million people who utilise its platform to create production-quality images and videos for various industries, including marketing and entertainment. This acquisition will further enhance Canva's suite of visual AI tools, integrating Leonardo's technology into Canva’s platform to be accessible to its 190 million monthly active users.

Cameron Adams, co-founder and Chief Product Officer of Canva, expressed enthusiasm about the acquisition. "We’re thrilled to welcome Leonardo.AI to Canva - two Australian companies joining forces to bring world-first breakthroughs in AI and creativity," he stated. "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."

Leonardo.AI, founded in late 2022, has been noted for its foundational model, Phoenix, which allows users to generate production-ready visual assets with high control, speed, and style consistency. Leonardo’s technology has been utilised to produce over one billion images in the last 18 months.

JJ Fiasson, Founder and CEO of Leonardo.AI, also expressed excitement about joining Canva. "Today marks the start of a new chapter which will accelerate the pace we innovate at Leonardo.AI," he remarked. "Joining the Canva family means we can invest more deeply in scaling our AI research efforts globally and move even faster to deliver new features and functionality to creatives worldwide."

Leonardo.AI's technology will enhance Canva’s Magic Studio suite, which has been used over 7 billion times since its launch in 2023. Magic Studio includes a variety of AI tools that have assisted Canva users in tasks ranging from summarising documents to creating images and presentations. The integration of Leonardo’s technology is expected to lead to more innovative and effective visual communication tools for Canva’s users.

Additionally, Canva plans to continue investing in Leonardo’s standalone platform while incorporating its capabilities across Canva’s suite of products. This strategic move is anticipated to strengthen Canva’s research and development capacities, with Leonardo’s team of 120 researchers, engineers, and designers joining Canva to drive long-term innovation.

Leonardo.AI's user base spans various industries such as advertising, marketing, design, entertainment, and education, and includes professionals and hobbyists who benefit from its advanced creative control features. The technology supports generating images in a range of styles and video creation, making it a versatile tool for multiple creative applications.

Canva has made several acquisitions over the past decade to bolster its technology capabilities. The acquisition of Leonardo.AI is Canva's eighth, following the acquisitions of Affinity in 2024, Flourish in 2022, Kaleido and Smartmockups in 2021, Pexels and Pixabay in 2019, and Zeetings in 2018. Each acquisition has played a role in enhancing Canva’s offerings and accelerating its technological advancements.