Adobe AI controversy: Why are creators ditching Adobe?

Adobe attempted to respond to concerns voiced by creators by posting blog posts and statements regarding its position. The company has claimed that it would not utilise user-generated content that is personal to train its AI models. Rather, Adobe has stated that it will only use public works- such as photos uploaded to Adobe Stock. Nonetheless, on social media platforms such as X, Reddit, and linkedIn, many users were suspicious. It was noted by people that even the legal terms of Adobe remained ambiguous, and oftentimes the company had rushed with introducing confusing changes one after another that made users feel uncertain about what exactly they were agreeing to.

The situation was compared in the industry experts to the problems Zoom had with its AI policy where fast communication and unclear terms had a similar outcry among the population. Creative professionals today desire to obtain details and control of how their work is applied to the internet environments. Such features of AI, along with increased access permissions, made many loyal customers worried by Adobe. The primary concern is that, in the absence of true transparency and control they may unknowingly or unwillingly have their material accessed, accessed, processed or repackaged in a way that they do not comprehensively understand nor approve.

This dispute exploded in early 2024 when Adobe introduced a new Terms of Use amendment that demands users accept content delivery of their creations to them through both automated and manual channels. Immediately after it was announced, creators were worried that their work, even when not publicly available (and nor even posted on a live website but perhaps only on a local computer) could be used to train generative AI models such as Firefly and that they might not have any control or compensation. An artist @SamSantala tweeted, "I can't use Photoshop until I am comfortable with you having unrestricted access to everything I created with it, including NDA projects?" Has become viral, causing millions of views and tens of thousands of interactions. Such rapid social media response raised issues of the protection of IP rights and appropriate ethics of training artificial intelligence. There are also technical grievances, as users describe bloatware, slow speeds and bug glitches, especially on the recently updated AI-centered versions.

The Adobe subscription model and performance woes

The transition of Adobe to only Creative Cloud subscriptions was viewed as controversial in the first place. In 2024 and 2025, it backfired as Adobe was hit by a US. lawsuit on hidden "Early Termination Fees" and complex cancellation processes. Tens of thousands of signatures, the Graphic Artists Guild reports, have been gathered on petitions urging the forced subscriptions be halted. The customers complain because of unstable monthly payments, price hikes, and impossibility to abandon the Adobe world of products.

Forums and LinkedIn posts complain about Adobe apps being bloated, slow and sluggish, freezing frequently, even with high-end hardware. More recent software like Premiere Pro and Photoshop has been criticised as being so obsessed with unfinished AI functionality that they focus instead on uptime and performance. Another editor wrote on X, "2025 Premiere Pro is essentially non-professionally usable. It is jammed with partial AI features that no one wants, and the editing core experience is severely damaged in stability and performance".

Public Sentiment: What creators and industry leaders say about Adobe

The attitude towards Adobe has changed extremely, as creators and leaders of the industry are expressing high levels of concern over recent changes in the company and technology advances. The most urgent problem is the concern that the new Terms of Use of Adobe can make the work created by the user, with or without a content-sensitive or NDA agreement, open to access and to potentially be used to train the AI without prior agreement. "Imagine using this software professionally for two decades, and then suddenly, they completely reverse all the fundamental functions of the tool, or they automate processes under the guise of ‘assistance,’ leaving you with no way to revert to the original settings." posted fernandodandrea on Reddit.

The Path Forward: Will Adobe Regain Trust?

The major issue is a big problem faced by Adobe since the customers of the company desire a software that is fast, does not go wrong with glitches and that most prominently ensures security of their creativity and their personal data. At this time however, it is believed that many do not believe that Adobe is providing these basics, in particular, concerns over how its AI may utilise the content of people, the aggravation of having to work with an overly complex, and costly, subscription model, and problems with poor or unreliable applications.

In order to regain user trust, Adobe should be as transparent as possible on how it processes content with AI and whether people can subscribe and unsubscribe to services more easily and without any inconveniences, as well as concentrate on ensuring that its programs do not crash as often and as regularly. That many people are searching strings such as, Adobe AI controversy, Adobe software alternatives, and Creative Cloud backlash indicates that the customers are not pleased and seek alternatives. Unless Adobe hears and acts fast, it can lose its long-time customers to speedier and easier-to-use rivals.

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