# Figma AI

> Source: https://aiwiki.ai/wiki/figma_ai
> Updated: 2026-06-23
> Categories: AI Tools & Products, Artificial Intelligence
> From AI Wiki (https://aiwiki.ai), a free encyclopedia of artificial intelligence. Quote with attribution.

**Figma AI** is the suite of [artificial intelligence](/wiki/artificial_intelligence) features built into Figma, the browser-based collaborative design platform, first announced at Figma's Config 2024 conference on June 26, 2024. [1][5] The suite spans design generation from text prompts, layer renaming, visual search, image and copy generation, and prototype wiring, and it later expanded into prompt-to-code app generation through Figma Make, a tool powered primarily by [Anthropic](/wiki/anthropic)'s [Claude](/wiki/claude) models. [9][16] The rollout drew immediate controversy when the original "Make Designs" feature produced UI mockups that closely resembled [Apple](/wiki/apple_intelligence)'s iOS Weather app; CEO Dylan Field disabled the feature on July 2, 2024, days after launch, and Figma relaunched a redesigned version as "First Draft" on September 27, 2024. [1][3]

Figma AI is one of the most high-profile integrations of [generative AI](/wiki/generative_ai) into a professional design tool, and the Make Designs episode became a widely cited case study in the risks of shipping AI features in creative software. Figma went public on the New York Stock Exchange on July 31, 2025 under the ticker FIG, pricing at $33 per share and closing its first day at $115.50, a roughly 250% pop that valued the company at about $68 billion on a fully diluted basis. [17][18]

## Background: Figma

### Company History

Figma was founded in 2012 by Dylan Field and Evan Wallace, who met as computer science students at Brown University. Field, who had interned at Flipboard and LinkedIn during college, received a Thiel Fellowship in 2012, a $100,000 grant from PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel that required him to leave school to work on the company full-time. Field moved to San Francisco with Wallace, and the two spent four years building the software before its first public release.

Field's early career included a stint as a child actor, and his inexperience in leadership initially created challenges both in leading Figma's early team and in fundraising. A beta version of Figma's first product took years to develop, and several early employees left before it launched. Investor John Lilly ultimately led Figma's $14 million Series A funding round in December 2015, providing the capital needed to bring the product to market.

The company launched a beta product in late 2015, its first public product in late 2016, and its first paid product in 2017. Figma's core innovation was bringing design tools to the browser, enabling real-time collaboration between designers, developers, and other stakeholders in a way that desktop applications like Adobe Illustrator and Sketch could not match. This browser-based, multiplayer approach to design proved transformative for the industry.

Evan Wallace served as Chief Technology Officer until his departure from the company in 2021. Dylan Field continues to serve as CEO.

### Funding and Growth

Figma raised a total of approximately $749 million across eight funding rounds before its IPO.

| Round | Year | Amount | Lead Investor | Valuation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seed | 2013 | $3.8 million | Index Ventures | Undisclosed |
| Series A | 2015 | $14 million | Greylock Partners | ~$77 million |
| Series B | 2018 | $25 million | Kleiner Perkins | ~$159 million |
| Series C | 2019 | $40 million | Sequoia Capital | ~$440 million |
| Series D | 2020 | $50 million | [Andreessen Horowitz](/wiki/andreessen_horowitz) | $2 billion |
| Series E | 2021 | $200 million | Durable Capital Partners | $10 billion |
| Series F | May 2024 | $416 million | Undisclosed | $12.5 billion |
| IPO | July 2025 | ~$1.2 billion | Public offering (NYSE: FIG) | ~$68 billion (day 1 close) |

### What happened with the Adobe acquisition?

On September 15, 2022, [Adobe](/wiki/adobe) announced an agreement to acquire Figma for approximately $20 billion in cash and stock, which would have been one of the largest software acquisitions in history. [19] The deal faced intense scrutiny from regulators in both Europe and the United Kingdom. The European Commission and the UK Competition and Markets Authority both raised concerns about the merger's potential impact on competition in the design software market; the CMA delivered a notice of possible remedies that included prohibiting the transaction or requiring Adobe to divest Figma Design. [19]

On December 18, 2023, Figma and Adobe mutually agreed to abandon the merger, citing "no clear path to receive necessary regulatory approvals from the European Commission and the UK Competition and Markets Authority." [19] Adobe paid a $1 billion reverse termination fee to Figma as part of the agreement, a record-setting penalty. [19] The failed acquisition became a landmark case in antitrust enforcement against large technology company mergers and contributed to broader regulatory scrutiny of acquisitions in the design and creative software industry. For Figma, the $1 billion breakup fee provided a substantial cash infusion that strengthened the company's balance sheet heading into its eventual IPO.

### When did Figma go public?

Figma priced its initial public offering on July 31, 2025, selling 36,937,080 shares of Class A common stock at $33.00 per share and listing on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol FIG. [18] The stock opened far above its offer price and closed its first trading day at $115.50, a gain of roughly 250%, the largest first-day pop in at least three decades for a US-traded company raising more than $1 billion. [17] At that close, Figma's fully diluted valuation reached approximately $68 billion. [17] The offering raised roughly $1.2 billion and was widely viewed as a bellwether for a resurgent tech IPO market after a multi-year drought.

Both co-founders became billionaires as a result of the IPO. Evan Wallace, who had left the company in 2021, donated a third of his Figma stock to a charity that fights homelessness.

In its IPO filings, Figma reported revenue of $749 million for fiscal 2024, up 48% from $504 million in 2023, and the company reached approximately $1.056 billion in fiscal 2025 revenue, up about 41% year-over-year. [10][12] Figma reported over 450,000 customers and more than 13 million monthly active users, roughly two-thirds of whom are not designers. [12]

### Products

Figma offers several core products:

| Product | Description |
|---|---|
| Figma Design | The primary vector graphics editor and UI/UX design tool, enabling real-time collaborative design in the browser |
| FigJam | A digital whiteboarding tool for brainstorming, planning, retrospectives, and workshops, featuring sticky notes, shapes, connectors, dot voting, and shared timers |
| Dev Mode | A developer-focused interface released in June 2023 that allows engineers to inspect designs, extract code snippets, and translate designs into implementation without modifying design files; came out of beta in 2024 with paid seats required |
| Figma Sites | Announced at Config 2025; allows designers to deploy responsive websites directly from Figma designs, with CMS capabilities planned |
| Figma Make | An AI-powered prompt-to-code tool that converts written descriptions or existing designs into working prototypes or applications |
| Figma Buzz | A tool for brand and marketing teams to create visual assets at scale while maintaining brand consistency, with built-in AI capabilities |
| Figma Draw | Enhanced vector editing and illustration tools within Figma Design for greater visual expression |

Figma also supports a thriving community ecosystem with thousands of plugins, widgets, and templates created by third-party developers and designers. Eligible creators can sell their resources directly on the Figma Community marketplace.

## What was announced as Figma AI at Config 2024?

At Config 2024, held June 26-27, 2024 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, Figma announced a suite of more than 10 AI-powered features in limited beta. [1][5] These features represented the company's first major push into [generative AI](/wiki/generative_ai) integration within the design tool. CEO Dylan Field positioned the announcements as part of Figma's vision for AI-augmented design, where AI handles repetitive and low-creativity tasks while designers focus on strategic and creative decisions. Figma stated that the AI features would be "free for all users during the beta period, which runs through 2024." [5]

The full suite of AI features announced at Config 2024 included:

| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Make Designs | Generate mobile and web UI mockups from text prompts (later renamed to First Draft) |
| Rename Layers | Contextually rename and organize all layers in a file with one click, using AI to understand the purpose of each element and assign meaningful names |
| Visual Search | Find designs, icons, or components across team files using a reference image, screenshot, selected frame, or even a hand-drawn sketch |
| Asset Search | AI-powered search that understands the context and intent behind queries, allowing users to discover assets even when search terms do not match asset names exactly |
| Auto Layout | AI analyzes designs and automatically determines which objects should be grouped in auto layout frames, creating the frame structure as needed |
| Image Generation | Generate realistic images directly within design files for use as placeholder content or final assets |
| Copy Generation | Create and iterate on text content within designs, generating headlines, body text, and microcopy |
| Prototype Wiring | Automatically connect frames and create interaction flows in prototypes, reducing the manual work of setting up click-through demos |
| Text Rewriting | Riff on, rewrite, shorten, lengthen, or adjust the tone of text content within designs |

These features addressed longstanding pain points in the design workflow. Layer renaming, for example, is a tedious but necessary task for maintaining organized design files, particularly when handing off designs to developers. By automating this with AI, Figma could save designers significant time on file hygiene.

### Why was Make Designs pulled (the Apple Weather app controversy)?

The most prominent and controversial feature announced at Config 2024 was Make Designs, which allowed users to generate UI designs from simple text prompts. The feature was intended to help designers quickly create starting points for their projects without building every element from scratch.

#### Discovery of the issue

Within days of Config 2024, the design community noticed significant problems with Make Designs. Andy Allen, the founder of NotBoring Software, was among the first to publicly document the issue. When Allen asked the tool to generate a weather app design, it repeatedly produced outputs that closely resembled [Apple](/wiki/apple_intelligence)'s iOS Weather app. The similarity was not subtle; the generated designs replicated distinctive visual elements, gradient color schemes, layout patterns, and iconography from Apple's proprietary application.

Allen posted his findings on social media on July 2, 2024, warning that "Figma AI looks rather heavily trained on existing apps" and advising designers that "you may want to thoroughly check existing apps or modify the results heavily so that you don't unknowingly land yourself in legal trouble." [1] The story spread rapidly across design forums, Twitter/X, and technology news outlets, and other designers reported similar results with different prompts.

#### Figma's response

Figma CEO Dylan Field responded the same day by asking the team to temporarily disable the feature. "I have asked our team to temporarily disable the Make Design feature until we are confident we can stand behind its output," Field wrote. [1] He also accepted responsibility for the rushed release: "Ultimately it is my fault for not insisting on a better QA process for this work, and pushing our team hard to hit a deadline for Config." [1] The feature was disabled on July 2, 2024, just days after its public debut.

Figma published a detailed retrospective on July 19, 2024 explaining what had gone wrong. [2] The company stated that Make Designs "uses a collection of off-the-shelf models like OpenAI's GPT-4o and Amazon's Titan model" on which "we have not done any additional training or fine-tuning." [2] Instead, Figma explained, "we commissioned two extensive design systems (one for mobile and one for desktop) with hundreds of components," and metadata from those hand-crafted components and example screens is fed into the model's context window alongside the user's prompt; the model then assembles a subset of components into parameterized designs. [2]

The root cause was a quality control failure in the design system assets. In the week leading up to Config, Figma added "new components and example screens" that, in the company's words, "we simply didn't vet carefully enough," and "a few of those assets were similar to aspects of real world applications," particularly Apple's Weather app. [2] When users entered prompts in those app categories, the AI selected and assembled the insufficiently vetted components, producing outputs that appeared to copy existing products. Once identified, the source assets were removed from the design system. [2]

Importantly, the explanation meant the issue was not the AI model memorizing and reproducing training data from existing apps. It was a human error in curating the design system building blocks, compounded by insufficient quality assurance before the public launch.

#### Industry reaction

The controversy reignited broader debates about [AI-generated content](/wiki/ai_generated_content), intellectual property, and the responsibility of companies deploying generative AI tools. Some designers questioned whether AI design tools could be trusted to produce original work, while others argued that the incident demonstrated the importance of rigorous QA processes before shipping AI features to production. The incident was covered extensively by TechCrunch, 404 Media, 9to5Mac, The Register, and numerous design-focused publications. [1][4]

The controversy also raised questions about the speed at which technology companies were rushing to ship AI features. Several commentators noted that Figma appeared to have prioritized getting AI features ready for its annual conference over thoroughly testing them, a pattern observed across the technology industry during the AI hype cycle of 2023-2024.

### How does First Draft work?

After months of testing, refinement, and quality assurance, Figma reintroduced the design generation feature under the new name "First Draft" on September 27, 2024. [3]

#### The model, context, prompt approach

According to Figma, First Draft "uses off-the-shelf AI models (like OpenAI's GPT-4 and Amazon Titan)" combined with three key elements: [3]

1. **Model**: The underlying [large language model](/wiki/large_language_model) that interprets user prompts and determines what components to use.
2. **Context**: Proprietary mobile and desktop design systems containing numerous components and assembly examples, built and carefully vetted by Figma's design team after the Make Designs incident.
3. **[Prompt](/wiki/prompt)**: The user's description of what they want to design.

The AI selects, arranges, and customizes design system components based on user inputs, producing editable wireframes or higher-fidelity design mockups as a starting point. All outputs are composed of real Figma components that designers can immediately edit, modify, and build upon.

#### Design library options

First Draft offers users a choice of four distinct libraries depending on their needs: [3]

| Library Type | Description |
|---|---|
| Wireframing | Low-fidelity primitives for sketching out basic layouts and structure without visual polish |
| Basic UI | Mid-fidelity components for exploring layout patterns and information architecture |
| Styled UI | Higher-fidelity components with visual styling and design details |
| Marketing | Components optimized for landing pages, marketing sites, and promotional content |

The multiple library options give designers control over the level of visual fidelity in the AI-generated output. The wireframing library, in particular, addresses concerns that the original Make Designs feature produced overly specific designs; wireframes are intentionally abstract and unlikely to resemble any specific existing application.

#### Does First Draft train on user content?

Figma has stated clearly and repeatedly that "First Draft doesn't train on customer content." [3] The feature relies on Figma's own commissioned design systems and off-the-shelf language models. User files, community submissions, and existing designs are not used as training data. This distinction was important for Figma's enterprise customers, many of whom have strict data governance requirements and would be concerned about their proprietary designs being used to train AI models.

## What is Figma Make and which AI models power it?

At Config 2025, held in May 2025, Figma announced additional AI capabilities that expanded well beyond the initial Config 2024 features. The centerpiece was Figma Make, an [AI code generation](/wiki/ai_code_generation) tool that turns prompts, designs, and images into interactive prototypes and applications using code generated in real time inside the Figma editor. [9] Figma moved Figma Make and other AI features (such as Edit Image and Boost Resolution) out of beta into general availability for all users on July 24, 2025. [16]

Figma Make is powered primarily by [Anthropic](/wiki/anthropic)'s [Claude](/wiki/claude) models. The tool routes design data through Figma's [Model Context Protocol](/wiki/model_context_protocol) (MCP) server, which restructures raw Figma API data into structured layout relationships and design-token references before passing that context to Claude for code generation. A model picker lets users choose which model powers a given output, with Claude (for example, Claude Sonnet and Opus 4.6) and Google's [Gemini](/wiki/gemini) 3 offered as the two main options; users can switch models at any point in a chat. [16] By the first quarter of 2026, Figma reported that Make had reached roughly 60% weekly active usage among its largest enterprise customers.

Other AI capabilities announced or expanded around Config 2025 included:

- **Advanced image generation and editing**: Expanded AI capabilities for creating and modifying images within designs, including Edit Image and Boost Resolution.
- **Auto-suggest features**: Contextual cues that speed up design workflows by predicting what the designer is likely to do next.
- **FigJam AI**: AI capabilities added to the whiteboarding tool for brainstorming and planning assistance.
- **Connectors**: Integration tools that import documents and tickets from platforms like [Jira](/wiki/jira), [Notion](/wiki/notion_ai), GitHub, and [Asana](/wiki/asana), incorporating actual project context into design files.

In 2026, Figma released Vectorize, an AI image editing tool that converts raster images into editable vector graphics. This tool allows designers to take screenshots, photos, or bitmap images and transform them into fully editable vector paths that can be modified, scaled, and customized directly in Figma.

Figma's AI model partnerships span the major frontier labs: [OpenAI](/wiki/openai)'s GPT-4 and GPT-4o underpin First Draft, while Figma Make draws on Anthropic's Claude and [Google](/wiki/google)'s Gemini. [2][3][16]

## How is Figma AI priced and billed?

Figma AI features were free during the initial beta period throughout 2024. [5] After the beta concluded, Figma introduced a credit-based billing system for AI features. Teams can choose between two billing approaches:

| Billing Option | Description |
|---|---|
| Monthly credit package | Teams subscribe to a fixed number of monthly AI credits at volume-based pricing |
| Pay-as-you-go | Teams enable pay-as-you-go billing that adds credits as needed up to a specified spending limit |

The AI features are available across Figma's subscription tiers, with usage-based pricing for AI-specific functionality layered on top of the base Figma subscription. Within Figma Make, different models consume credits at different rates; higher-capability models such as Claude Opus draw substantially more credits per task than other options. [16]

## Revenue and User Metrics

As of early 2025, Figma reported the following key metrics:

| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Annual revenue (2025) | ~$1.056 billion |
| Annual revenue (2024) | ~$749 million |
| Annual revenue (2023) | ~$504 million |
| Revenue growth 2024 | ~48% year-over-year |
| Revenue growth 2025 | ~41% year-over-year |
| Q1 2025 revenue | $228.2 million |
| Q1 2025 net income | $44.9 million |
| Monthly active users | 13 million+ |
| Total customers | 450,000+ |
| Developer share of MAU | ~30% |
| Non-designer share of MAU | ~67% |
| Engineering team size | 131 |
| IPO offer price | $33.00 per share |
| Day-1 closing price | $115.50 (NYSE: FIG) |
| Valuation (day-1 close) | ~$68 billion |

Approximately two-thirds of Figma's monthly active users are non-designers, reflecting the platform's expansion beyond its original design audience into product management, engineering, and marketing roles. [12] The roughly 30% developer share of monthly active users has become increasingly important as Figma monetizes developer usage through paid Dev Mode seats.

## How does Figma AI compare to other AI design tools?

Figma AI competes with a growing number of AI-powered design and prototyping tools.

| Competitor | Description |
|---|---|
| Adobe Firefly + Creative Cloud | [Adobe](/wiki/adobe)'s [generative AI](/wiki/generative_ai) integrated across Photoshop, Illustrator, and other Creative Cloud apps, with Firefly trained on licensed content |
| [Canva](/wiki/canva_ai) Magic Studio | AI-powered design generation, image editing, and template creation within Canva's platform |
| Motiff AI | AI-native interface design tool from China that competes directly with Figma's design generation features |
| [Framer](/wiki/framer) AI | AI-powered website builder with design generation from prompts and direct publishing |
| [Galileo AI](/wiki/galileo_ai) | AI tool that generates editable UI designs from text descriptions; acquired by Google and relaunched as Stitch |
| [v0](/wiki/v0) by [Vercel](/wiki/vercel) | AI tool that generates React UI components and full-page layouts from text prompts or images |
| Builder.io | AI tools for converting Figma designs to code and generating designs from prompts |
| Uizard | AI-powered UI design tool that converts wireframes and screenshots into editable designs |
| Claude Design | Anthropic's prompt-to-prototype design tool, launched 2026, positioned as a direct challenger to Figma Make |

## Broader Context: AI in Design

Figma's integration of AI features reflects a broader trend across the design industry. Major design and creative tools have all introduced generative AI capabilities since 2023, driven by advances in [large language models](/wiki/large_language_model), [diffusion models](/wiki/diffusion_models), and [multimodal AI](/wiki/multimodal_ai). The Make Designs controversy highlighted the challenges companies face when deploying AI tools that generate creative content, particularly around issues of originality, intellectual property, quality assurance, and the speed at which companies push AI features to market.

The design community remains divided on the role of AI in creative work. Proponents argue that AI tools lower barriers to entry, accelerate iteration, reduce time spent on repetitive tasks, and free designers to focus on higher-level creative decisions. Critics worry that AI-generated designs promote visual homogeneity, reduce demand for skilled designers, and create intellectual property risks when outputs inadvertently resemble existing work. Some designers also express concern that AI tools may devalue the craft of design by making it appear easy and commoditized.

Figma's approach of using AI to augment rather than replace designers, positioning features like First Draft as starting points that require human refinement, represents one model for integrating AI into creative workflows. The company has emphasized that AI features are most effective when they handle repetitive or low-creativity tasks (such as renaming layers, wiring prototypes, or generating placeholder content), allowing designers to allocate their time and attention to strategic and creative decisions that require human judgment.

The Figma AI story also illustrates the reputational risks that come with shipping AI features prematurely. The Make Designs controversy, while ultimately traced to a quality control issue rather than a fundamental flaw in the technology, temporarily damaged Figma's reputation among its core designer user base and became a cautionary tale cited across the technology industry.

## Timeline of Key Events

| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 2012 | Dylan Field and Evan Wallace found Figma |
| 2013 | $3.8 million seed round from Index Ventures |
| December 2015 | $14 million Series A led by Greylock; beta product launches |
| Late 2016 | First public product release |
| 2017 | First paid product offering |
| 2018 | $25 million Series B from Kleiner Perkins |
| 2019 | $40 million Series C led by Sequoia Capital |
| 2020 | $50 million Series D; valuation reaches $2 billion |
| 2021 | $200 million Series E; valuation reaches $10 billion; Evan Wallace departs |
| September 2022 | Adobe announces $20 billion acquisition agreement |
| December 2023 | Adobe and Figma mutually abandon the merger; Adobe pays $1 billion breakup fee |
| May 2024 | $416 million Series F raises valuation to $12.5 billion |
| June 26-27, 2024 | Config 2024: Figma announces 10+ AI features including Make Designs |
| July 2, 2024 | Make Designs disabled after Apple Weather app controversy |
| July 19, 2024 | Figma publishes retrospective explaining the Make Designs root cause |
| September 27, 2024 | First Draft launches as the redesigned replacement for Make Designs |
| May 2025 | Config 2025: Figma Sites, Figma Make, Figma Buzz, and Figma Draw announced |
| July 24, 2025 | Figma Make and other AI features reach general availability |
| July 31, 2025 | Figma IPO on NYSE at $33/share; closes day 1 at $115.50 (+250%); ~$68 billion valuation |
| 2026 | Vectorize AI tool released for raster-to-vector conversion |

## References

1. "Figma disables its AI design feature that appeared to be ripping off Apple's Weather app." TechCrunch, July 2, 2024.
2. "An Update on our Make Designs Feature." Figma Blog, July 19, 2024.
3. "Building a better First Draft for designers." Figma Blog, September 27, 2024.
4. "Figma explains why AI kept making copies of Apple's Weather app." 9to5Mac, July 19, 2024.
5. "Config 2024 In Review." Figma Blog, June 26, 2024.
6. "Figma Goes Public: Thirteen Unforgettable Years with Dylan Field." Index Ventures, August 2025.
7. "Figma's 33-year-old cofounder is a former LinkedIn intern who launched the Wall Street darling." Yahoo Finance, 2025.
8. "Config 2025 Launches Deepen Figma's Design Capabilities As Its Platform Expands." Figma Blog, May 2025.
9. "Figma releases new AI-powered tools for creating sites, app prototypes, and marketing assets." TechCrunch, May 7, 2025.
10. "Figma revenue, valuation & funding." Sacra, 2025.
11. "Figma Statistics 2026: How Users, Revenue & AI Are Rising." SQ Magazine, 2026.
12. "How Figma hit $1B revenue and 450K customers in 2025." Latka / GetLatka, 2025.
13. "Dylan Field." Wikipedia, accessed March 2026.
14. "Figma." Wikipedia, accessed March 2026.
15. "Updates to how drafts work." Figma Blog, 2024.
16. "Figma Make Is Now Available to All Users." Figma Blog, July 24, 2025.
17. "Figma (FIG) starts trading on NYSE after IPO." CNBC, July 31, 2025.
18. "Figma Announces Pricing of Initial Public Offering." Figma Blog, July 2025.
19. "Adobe and Figma call off $20 billion merger." CNBC, December 18, 2023.