November 13, 2026
Avid has launched Ready to Play, a suite of AI-assisted tools built into Media Composer using Google Gemini. The update introduces three core capabilities - creating, analyzing, and modifying video - designed to help editors maintain momentum without ceding creative control. It is available now as a free add-on for existing Media Composer subscribers.
Phota Labs is a new AI-powered service that automatically processes ordinary photos into polished, professional-looking images without requiring users to touch an editing tool. Rather than layering more manual controls onto an already crowded market, the company focuses on automating the entire editing pipeline. The goal is to make quality photo output accessible to people who have no background in photography or post-processing.
Adobe and Microsoft have deepened their partnership to bring better-optimized versions of Photoshop, Premiere, After Effects, and Substance 3D Painter to high-performance Windows PCs. The expansion also includes Adobe Express capabilities coming to Microsoft Photos, with a preview for Windows Insiders expected in December. The move is tied to a separate Adobe-NVIDIA collaboration centered on RTX Spark-powered hardware.
Runway has updated its content moderation policies to permit a broader range of dramatic and genre fiction content - including sword fights, shootouts, and horror - while keeping firm limits around genuine harm. The changes reflect an effort to bring the platform's written rules closer in line with what its systems actually allow in practice. Users can also now flag cases where moderation gets it wrong.
Google has added five new tools to Flow, its AI-powered filmmaking platform, developed with input from working filmmakers and visual artists. The additions are aimed at giving creators more precise control over how their stories are visualized and produced. Each tool addresses a specific stage or challenge in the visual storytelling process.
ArtCraft made waves by using AI to build an open-source reimagining of Photoshop, and CEO Brandon Thomas says that is only the beginning. The company's broader ambition is to challenge the closed, proprietary systems that dominate creative software and the web. It is a bold long-term goal, rooted in the idea that AI can lower the barrier to rebuilding complex software from scratch.
