The new AI image generation field moves at a fast pace, as we have more exciting news, this time from none other than Microsoft.
The computer tech and software company announced this week that their partnership with OpenAI will bring Dall-E functionality for AI image creation onto the upcoming Designer, a graphic design app, as well as to Image Creator, an AI image generator that will be available on Bing and Edge.
Let’s talk more about this!
Microsoft Designer: AI-Powered Visual Design with Dall-E
During the first day of the Microsoft Ignite 2022 conference that launched yesterday in Seattle, the company announced the soon-to-be-released Microsoft Designer, a user-friendly design tool intended to easily create and share social media graphics, presentations, posters, digital invitations, and more.
As we reported to you some time ago, AI-generated images are the hottest thing in the visual creative world right now. Companies of all sizes and avenues are embracing them, and Microsoft is of course one of them, bringing AI visual technology on board via a partnership with OpenAI, Elon Musk's AI lab responsible for the popular Dall-E tool.
Dall-E’s AI-based image generation technology will be powering features that go from text to visualization at various stages: you will be able to briefly describe what you want to create and summon templates for your purpose, to generate new images just from a text description, and to make quick edits to customize the design, among other tasks.
If this new tool reminds you a lot of Canva, it’s not a coincidence. Especially when we consider that Canva has recently launched an AI image generator within their platform, too.
Canva founders have said from the start that they saw themselves as competitors to the likes of Microsoft, and this latest development tells us that Microsoft takes them very seriously.
MS Designer waitlist is already open for sign-up and will be free for a limited, review period. After that, it will be included in the Microsoft 365 subscriptions, but they said some limited functionality will remain free for non-subscribers.
Image Creator: AI Images in Bing and Edge
As part of the partnership with OpenAI, they also developed a new feature that will be available inside Bing and Edge. This add-on, named Image Creator, will do what its name says via AI tech: it will let you create original images from a text description, just like Dall-E does.
Coming out in the next few weeks, this app will be free for all. However, it will be rolled out progressively, starting with a few selected regions in the world, and the feedback from this experience will be used to further expand its reach.
AI Image Copyright: Microsoft + Dall-E Give You Full Content Ownership
Aligning with Dall-E’s terms of service, Microsoft has disclosed that images created through Designer and Image Creator will be fully owned by the user, including the right to commercialize these creations.
As we have mentioned in the last few weeks, there is still a lot to be ironed out in terms of copyright, model releases, and biometric data security, before it’s safe to say all AI-generated pictures are legally safe to commercialize. Big stock photo agencies such as Shutterstock and Getty Images are limiting or rejecting AI-generated visuals from their libraries at this time, for that very reason.
However, it is relevant that Microsoft and OpenAI are confident and very clear about the copyright status of the content created on their platforms.
Are you excited to try Microsoft Designer and Image Creator?
