“Software is over”: Bold AI developer takes aim at Adobe with open source clones
Summary
A developer named Brandon Thomas created free, open-source software that copies the look and tools of Adobe’s popular programs like Photoshop and Premiere. He used AI to help build these apps and plans to make them as good as Adobe’s software soon. The software will be funded by selling access to AI image-generation tools inside the apps.Key Facts
- Brandon Thomas developed seven open-source apps that mimic Adobe software such as Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere, Lightroom, After Effects, InDesign, and Acrobat Pro.
- The apps are made using the Rust programming language and can also run in web browsers via WebAssembly.
- Thomas used AI, specifically Anthropic’s Claude Opus 5.5, to assist in reverse engineering Adobe’s software functions without copying its code.
- The apps are currently in an early “alpha” stage but Thomas aims to reach full feature parity with Adobe within months.
- The software is offered for free under open licenses (MIT/Apache) and funded by selling access tokens for AI image-generation models included in the apps.
- Reverse engineering software is generally legal, but the look and design might cause possible legal challenges from Adobe.
- Thomas hopes this project will show developers can make open-source versions of popular paid software, reducing reliance on big tech companies.
- The goal is to create high-performing, cross-platform alternatives that challenge current tech dominance and remove advertising.
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