Adobe Surges as AI Optimism Fuels Annual Revenue Forecast

Figurines are seen in front of the Adobe logo in this illustration taken June 13, 2022. (Reuters)
Figurines are seen in front of the Adobe logo in this illustration taken June 13, 2022. (Reuters)
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Adobe Surges as AI Optimism Fuels Annual Revenue Forecast

Figurines are seen in front of the Adobe logo in this illustration taken June 13, 2022. (Reuters)
Figurines are seen in front of the Adobe logo in this illustration taken June 13, 2022. (Reuters)

Adobe shares soared 16% on Friday, putting the Photoshop-maker on track for its best day in more than four years, after the company raised its annual revenue forecast as more customers turned to its AI-powered editing tools.

The forecast allayed investor fears that Adobe, a major player in the market for editing tools for photos and videos, could lose customers to AI startups such as Dall-E maker OpenAI that allow users to generate images with simple text prompts, Reuters reported.

"Generative artificial intelligence adoption should help drive growth over the next several quarters," Morningstar analysts said in a note.

Results showed Adobe's AI efforts, including the Firefly image-generating software it rolled out last year, were paying off, with senior executive David Wadhwani saying existing users were moving to higher-priced plans to gain access to Firefly.

At $528.81, the company's shares hit their highest level since March 14, and if the gains hold, Adobe was set to add more than $30 billion to its market value.

Its shares have lost about 23% of their value this year, compared with a nearly 14% gain for the S&P 500 index.

The company raised the midpoint of its fiscal 2024 revenue forecast to $21.45 billion on Thursday, compared with its prior midpoint of $21.40 billion.

It reported $3.91 billion as revenue from its digital media business, which made up about 74% of its total second-quarter revenue of $5.31 billion. Analysts had expected total sales of $5.29 billion.



OpenAI, Anthropic Sign Deals with US Govt for AI Research and Testing

OpenAI logo is seen in this illustration taken May 20, 2024. (Reuters)
OpenAI logo is seen in this illustration taken May 20, 2024. (Reuters)
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OpenAI, Anthropic Sign Deals with US Govt for AI Research and Testing

OpenAI logo is seen in this illustration taken May 20, 2024. (Reuters)
OpenAI logo is seen in this illustration taken May 20, 2024. (Reuters)

AI startups OpenAI and Anthropic have signed deals with the United States government for research, testing and evaluation of their artificial intelligence models, the US Artificial Intelligence Safety Institute said on Thursday.

The first-of-their-kind agreements come at a time when the companies are facing regulatory scrutiny over safe and ethical use of AI technologies.

California legislators are set to vote on a bill as soon as this week to broadly regulate how AI is developed and deployed in the state.

Under the deals, the US AI Safety Institute will have access to major new models from both OpenAI and Anthropic prior to and following their public release.

The agreements will also enable collaborative research to evaluate capabilities of the AI models and risks associated with them, Reuters reported.

"We believe the institute has a critical role to play in defining US leadership in responsibly developing artificial intelligence and hope that our work together offers a framework that the rest of the world can build on," said Jason Kwon, chief strategy officer at ChatGPT maker OpenAI.

Anthropic, which is backed by Amazon and Alphabet , did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

"These agreements are just the start, but they are an important milestone as we work to help responsibly steward the future of AI," said Elizabeth Kelly, director of the US AI Safety Institute.

The institute, a part of the US commerce department's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), will also collaborate with the U.K. AI Safety Institute and provide feedback to the companies on potential safety improvements.

The US AI Safety Institute was launched last year as part of an executive order by President Joe Biden's administration to evaluate known and emerging risks of artificial intelligence models.