Adobe says it has expanded its partnership with Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology and government-backed artificial intelligence company Humain, offering citizens and residents free access to its AI-powered creative tools for a year.
Under the expanded agreement, more than 27 million eligible Saudi citizens and residents will receive 12 months of access to Adobe Firefly Standard, the company’s generative AI platform, as well as premium features of Adobe Express.
Adobe said its commitment under the expanded partnership is valued at more than $4 billion.
The agreement comes as Saudi Arabia accelerates efforts to build a domestic AI industry as part of its broader Vision 2030 strategy, which aims to diversify the economy beyond oil and develop technology, digital infrastructure and advanced industries.
The initiative will also give Saudi users access to a new image-generation model jointly developed by Adobe and Humain and “tuned to Saudi culture.”
The model will allow users to create “culturally aligned” images using Arabic-language prompts, Adobe said.
Free access to the tools will begin rolling out by the end of 2026.
Adobe and Humain first announced their partnership in November, with the companies saying they would work together to develop generative AI tools capable of producing content in Arabic and for users across the wider Middle East.
The expanded agreement gives Adobe a potentially large new user base at a time when competition in generative AI and creative software is intensifying.
Adobe has been integrating generative AI into products including Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro and Adobe Express as it seeks to protect its position in the creative software market from newer AI-focused competitors.
The company has increasingly focused on making AI tools accessible within its existing software ecosystem, allowing users to generate and edit images, video and other content using natural-language prompts.
For Saudi Arabia, the partnership represents another step in its effort to establish the country as a regional hub for artificial intelligence.
The kingdom has committed billions of dollars to AI infrastructure and technology through state-backed initiatives, including Humain, which was launched with the backing of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
The country’s AI push has also included efforts to build data centres, attract global technology companies and develop Arabic-language AI capabilities that can serve users across the region.
Adobe said the image-generation model developed with Humain is designed to reflect Saudi cultural context while supporting Arabic-language prompts, addressing one of the challenges facing generative AI systems trained predominantly on English-language data.
The partnership is also expected to help Adobe expand adoption of its AI products as competition increases in the global design software market.
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Faustine Ngila is the AI Editor at Impact Newswire, based in Nairobi, Kenya. He is an award-winning journalist specializing in artificial intelligence, blockchain, and emerging technologies.
He previously worked as a global technology reporter at Quartz in New York and Digital Frontier in London, where he covered innovation, startups, and the global digital economy.
With years of experience reporting on cutting-edge technologies, Faustine focuses on AI developments, industry trends, and the impact of technology on society.
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