Adobe, MCIT and HUMAIN Expand Partnership, Providing Over $4bn in Free Access to AI-powered Creative Tools to Millions of Citizens and Residents of Saudi Arabia

Manal Saleh

·        At LEAP 2026, Adobe announced plans to provide over 27 million eligible Saudi citizens and residents with 12 months of free access to Adobe Firefly Standard plus Adobe Express Premium features, advancing a thriving creative sector

·        Adobe Firefly Foundry will power HUMAIN’s and Adobe’s jointly developed image model, tuned to Saudi culture, enabling individuals and businesses to create culturally aligned, Saudi-authentic imagery using Arabic-language prompts

·        Adobe will support Saudi Arabia’s start-up ecosystem by providing access to creative tools, expertise and training for participants in MCIT's Center of Digital Entrepreneurship and upskilling the nation through the Adobe Digital Academy 

RIYADH — August 31, 2026 — Today at LEAP 2026, Adobe (Nasdaq: ADBE) — the global technology leader that unleashes creativity, productivity and customer experiences through innovative tools and platforms — announced an expanded partnership with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) and HUMAIN, a PIF company, delivering full-stack artificial intelligence capabilities globally, to advance Saudi Arabia’s thriving creative sector. Through the partnership, Adobe plans to provide over 27 million eligible Saudi citizens and residents aged 13[1] and over with 12 months of free access to Adobe Firefly Standard plus Adobe Express Premium features, including a new image generation model tuned to Saudi culture. Adobe’s commitment is valued at over $4 billion.

Adobe’s mission is to empower everyone to create. The partnership also advances Adobe’s strategy of expanding access to its AI solutions that power creativity, productivity and customer experience.

Adobe Firefly, the all-in-one AI creative studio, brings together industry-leading AI models, Adobe’s pro-grade editing tools and agentic capabilities. From brainstorming and visualizing ideas to generating and editing images, video, audio and design assets, Firefly brings every stage of creative work together from ideation to creation to production.

With Adobe Express, the quick and easy create-anything app, consumers, business professionals, students, and small businesses can bring in their Firefly creations or start from hundreds of thousands of professionally designed templates and create finished content they can publish to any platform, from social posts and digital content to posters, flyers and presentations.

As an additional step to unlocking creativity for Arabic speakers worldwide, Adobe announced the availability of Modern Standard Arabic right-to-left language support on Adobe Express desktop, web and iOS globally from today, including support for typography, text editing, UI controls, as well as a special collection of templates tuned to Saudi culture.

Powering regionally relevant AI creative imagery

To further expand access to AI-powered creative tools, HUMAIN and Adobe will soon launch a jointly developed image model, its first image generation model developed with Adobe Firefly Foundry. The HUMAIN and Adobe image model is designed to generate high-quality imagery informed by the cultural context, visual references and creative needs of Saudi citizens and creative teams.

Supporting Saudi Arabia’s start-up ecosystem and skilling the next generation

To enable small businesses locally to make the most of AI’s creative potential, Adobe will provide eligible start-ups and early-stage entrepreneurs participating in MCIT’s Center of Digital Entrepreneurship (CODE) and The Garage with one year of free access to select Adobe creative tools, expertise and training beginning from early 2027. This will help them to deliver on their potential while supporting the wider startup ecosystem.

Adobe and MCIT Future Skills are also working towards creatively upskilling the nation by providing free access to practical learning courses through Adobe Digital Academy. Adobe Digital Academy is committed to helping people everywhere build creative, marketing and AI skills that enable them to take part in the creative economy. Building on that commitment, Adobe recently launched AI Essentials for Marketers, a joint global learning initiative with LinkedIn. From micro-learning and new skills to deeper learning and mastery for professional development, Adobe is meeting learners where they are and supporting them in turning their ideas into reality.

This collaboration builds on the strategic partnership announced by Adobe and HUMAIN at the U.S. and Saudi Investment Forum in November 2025. By partnering with government entities like MCIT and working with leading companies such as HUMAIN, Adobe is broadening customer choice and enabling AI-powered workflows to scale from experimentation to real-world impact.

Leadership Commentary

H.E. Eng. Abdullah Amer Alswaha, Minister of Communications and Information Technology, said: “Guided by the leadership and empowerment of His Royal Highness Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and his unwavering commitment to our youth and developing their capabilities, the Kingdom is ensuring that the Intelligence Age becomes an age of opportunity for everyone. By expanding access to world-leading AI-powered creative tools, developing culturally relevant technologies, and equipping our people and entrepreneurs with the skills to create and compete, we are turning AI investment into opportunity at scale. Our partnership with Adobe and HUMAIN reflects the Kingdom’s commitment to empowering talent, accelerating the creative economy and ensuring that the benefits of AI reach every innovator, creator and entrepreneur.”

Shantanu Narayen, Chair and Chief Executive Officer, Adobe, said: “Our partnership with MCIT and HUMAIN reflects our commitment to helping millions of Saudi individuals, businesses and students transform their ideas into opportunity with our powerful and culturally relevant tools. The combination of Adobe’s creative tools and Adobe Firefly Foundry image and video models tuned to Saudi culture with MCIT’s local expertise and HUMAIN’s cultural intelligence will help accelerate the growth of Saudi Arabia’s vibrant creative economy, empowering everyone to create.”

Tareq Amin, CEO of HUMAIN, said: “AI should understand the context in which it operates. Our partnership with Adobe combines Adobe’s creative technology with HUMAIN’s regional intelligence to bring greater cultural relevance to image generation. We are building it locally but designing it to compete and scale globally.”

Availability

Adobe plans to provide eligible Saudi citizens and residents aged 13 and over with 12 months of free access to Adobe Firefly Standard plus Adobe Express Premium features by the end of 2026.  The HUMAIN and Adobe image generation model developed with Adobe Firefly Foundry and tuned to Saudi culture, is coming soon.

Supporting Resources:

·        Adobe and HUMAIN - Create for the Kingdom (Arabic)

·        Pre-register your interest in Adobe Firefly Standard and Express Premium features (Arabic)

·        Adobe Digital Academy

·        Adobe Firefly

·        Adobe Firefly for Enterprise (Arabic)

·        Adobe Express (Arabic)

ADOBE: Forward Looking Statement

This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including those related to Adobe’s global strategic partnership to build specifically-tuned AI models and AI-powered applications, and new, enhanced or future AI and product capabilities, innovations and offerings and the expected benefits to Adobe. Each of the forward-looking statements in this press release Adobe makes involves risks, uncertainties and assumptions based on information available to Adobe as of the date of this press release. Such risks and uncertainties, many of which relate to matters beyond Adobe’s control, could cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to: failure to innovate effectively and meet customer needs; issues relating to development and use of AI; failure to compete effectively; damage to our reputation or brands; failure to realize the anticipated benefits of investments or acquisitions; service interruptions or failures in information technology systems by us or third parties; security incidents; failure to effectively develop, manage and maintain critical third-party business relationships; risks associated with being a multinational corporation and adverse macroeconomic conditions; complex sales cycles; failure to recruit and retain key personnel; litigation, regulatory inquiries and intellectual property infringement claims; changes in, and compliance with, global laws and regulations, including those related to information security and privacy; failure to protect our intellectual property; changes in tax regulations; complex government procurement processes; risks related to fluctuations in or the timing of revenue recognition from our subscription offerings; fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; impairment charges; our existing and future debt obligations; catastrophic events; and fluctuations in our stock price. Further information on these and other factors are discussed in the section titled “Risk Factors” in Adobe’s most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K and Adobe's most recently filed Quarterly Reports on Form 10- Q. The risks described in this press release and in Adobe’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission should be carefully reviewed. Adobe undertakes no obligation, and does not intend, to update the forward-looking statements, except as required by law. 

About Adobe 

Adobe’s mission is to empower everyone to create by building innovative platforms and tools that unleash creativity, productivity and personalized customer experiences. For more visit www.adobe.com. 

About HUMAIN

HUMAIN, a PIF company, is a global artificial intelligence company delivering full-stack AI capabilities across four core areas: next-generation data centers, hyper-performance infrastructure and cloud platforms, advanced AI models, including the world’s most advanced Arabic LLMs built in the Arab world, and transformative AI solutions that combine deep sector insight with real-world execution.

HUMAIN’s end-to-end model serves both public and private sector organizations, unlocking exponential value across all industries, driving transformation and strengthening capabilities through human-AI synergies. With a growing portfolio of sector-specific AI products and a core mission to drive IP leadership and talent supremacy worldwide, HUMAIN is engineered for global competitiveness and national distinction.

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