Adobe MAX 2025: The 10 Key Announcements for Creators
I’m here in Los Angeles for Adobe MAX 2025, and the energy is incredible. As an Adobe Ambassador, this is one of my favorite events of the year because we get a direct look at the future of the tools we use every day. This year, the main keynote had one clear message: AI is now at the heart of everything.
It can feel like a lot to take in: there were so many new names, features, and ideas. But at Feisworld our job is to cut through all the noise and tell you what actually matters for us, the creators.
So, here are my top 10 takeaways from the big opening keynote.
HEADS-UP
Get UNLIMITED Adobe Firefly image and video generation credits on both Firefly and partner models until December 1st, with your Creative Cloud subscription (new or existing).
Adobe MAX 2025 Keynote: Quick Summary
1. Adobe AI Assistants in Photoshop & Express
What it is: Adobe is building “AI Assistants” directly into apps like Photoshop, Express, and Firefly. This isn’t just a chatbot. It’s an assistant that understands what you want to do.
Why it matters for you: Instead of searching through menus, you’ll be able to just type or say what you want in plain English, like, “Remove the background from these five photos and make them all look warmer.” The assistant will just do it. This means less time on tedious tasks and more time being creative.
2. Firefly Image Model 5: A Big Leap in AI Image Quality
What it is: Firefly, Adobe’s AI image generator, is getting a major upgrade with a new version called Image Model 5. It creates bigger, more detailed images right away (at 4MP resolution) and is much better at making realistic-looking people and textures.
Why it matters for you: The images you generate will simply look better and more professional, with less weirdness. It also understands your text prompts better, so you’ll spend less time trying to get the perfect image.
3. More AI Models in Adobe Apps (Google, OpenAI & More)
What it is: This was a huge surprise. Adobe is now letting you use other popular AI models from companies like Google, OpenAI, Runway, and more, directly inside apps like Photoshop and Firefly.
Why it matters for you: You get to choose the best tool for the job without ever leaving your workflow. If you find that Google’s model is better for a specific type of image, you can just select it from a dropdown menu. More choice means more power for you.
4. Firefly Adds AI Video & Audio Tools (Generate Soundtrack & Speech)
What it is: Firefly is no longer just for images. Adobe announced three huge new features:
- Generate Soundtrack: Creates custom, royalty-free music for your videos.
- Generate Speech: Creates realistic voice-overs from text.
- A new AI video editor: A simple, web-based editor for putting everything together.
Why it matters for you: This is a game-changer. You can now create a complete video—with visuals, a custom soundtrack, and a clean voice-over—all within the Firefly ecosystem. This could save a huge amount of time and money.
5. Firefly Custom Models: Train AI on Your Own Style
What it is: Adobe announced “Firefly Custom Models.” This lets you “train” a private version of Firefly on your own images and designs.
Why it matters for you: If you have a unique visual style, you can now generate new images that perfectly match your brand. Imagine uploading 20 of your illustrations and then being able to generate 100 more in that exact same style. This is huge for keeping your content consistent.
6. New AI Tools in Photoshop: Generative Upscale & Harmonize
What it is: Photoshop is getting some very practical AI upgrades. Two that stood out to me were Generative Upscale (which uses technology from Topaz Labs to make low-resolution images sharp and clear) and Harmonize (which automatically matches the color and lighting when you combine two different images).
Why it matters for you: These are real-world time-savers. An old photo can be made usable for a 4K video, and compositing images will now take a fraction of the time.
7. Premiere Pro’s New Time-Saver: AI Object Mask
What it is: A new feature called AI Object Mask is coming to Premiere Pro. It can automatically identify and select a person or object in your video, even as they move.
Why it matters for you: Anyone who has ever done rotoscoping knows this is a lifesaver. You can now easily change the color of just the background, or blur out a specific object, without spending hours manually tracing frames.
8. Adobe Premiere Mobile App Launches with YouTube Partnership
What it is: Adobe officially launched its new, free Premiere mobile app. Even bigger, they announced a partnership with YouTube. Soon, you’ll be able to jump from the YouTube Shorts app directly into Premiere mobile to edit your video with pro tools, then publish it right back.
Why it matters for you: This is huge for anyone making content on the go. It makes professional-level video editing more accessible and directly connects it to one of the biggest creator platforms in the world.
9. Adobe’s Future: Project Moonlight, The Cross-App AI Assistant
What it is: Adobe gave us a sneak peek at a future project called “Moonlight.” Think of it as a master AI assistant that can work across all your Adobe apps. You could ask it to “take my latest photos from Lightroom, create a social media graphic in Express, and write a caption for it,” and it would coordinate everything.
Why it matters for you: This is the future of the creative workflow. It shows that Adobe’s goal is for their AI to handle the entire process from start to finish, based on a single request from you.
10. For Businesses: Scaling Content with Adobe Firefly Foundry
What it is: Adobe announced Firefly Foundry, a service where they work with big companies to create deeply customized, private AI models trained on all of their brand assets.
Why it matters for you: Even if you’re not a Fortune 100 company, this shows where the industry is going. The future is about creating AI that understands your brand’s unique look and feel to help you create content faster. The “Custom Models” feature (#5) is the first step in this direction for individual creators.
Adobe MAX 2025: My Final Thoughts
It’s a lot to take in, but I’m leaving the keynote full of excitement. Adobe is making it clear that they see AI as a partner to help us work faster and be more creative, not as a replacement.
You don’t need to learn all of this overnight. The important thing is to know what’s possible.
In my next few posts, I’ll be doing a deep dive into some of the most important announcements from today. First up, I’m going to talk about an INSANE offer that gives you UNLIMITED AI credits for Firefly. Stay tuned!
Pro Tip: You can read Adobe’s official summary of all the keynote announcements on their newsroom here.
