Figma just locked in a major AI partnership that'll reshape how 13 million designers work. The design platform announced today it's integrating Google's Gemini models directly into its workflow, promising 50% faster image generation and putting AI-powered design tools at designers' fingertips. It's another chess move in the enterprise AI race, where platforms with massive user bases are becoming the battleground for AI dominance.
Figma's AI bet just got a lot bigger. The design platform announced Thursday it's bringing Google's most powerful Gemini models directly into designers' hands, marking another major play in the enterprise AI integration wars.
The partnership adds Gemini 2.5 Flash, Gemini 2.0, and Imagen 4 to Figma's existing AI toolkit, while maintaining the company's broader relationship with Google Cloud. For Figma's 13 million monthly active users, this means AI image generation with natural language prompts and real-time editing suggestions built right into their design workflow.
The numbers tell the story of why this matters. During internal testing of Gemini 2.5 Flash integration, Figma saw a 50% reduction in latency for its "Make Image" feature. That's the difference between waiting and working - a crucial advantage when design teams are iterating rapidly on mockups and prototypes.
"We're addressing the evolving needs of product designers and their teams," Figma stated in Thursday's announcement. But this isn't just about faster image generation. It's about positioning Figma as the AI-native design platform before competitors can catch up.
The timing reveals the broader strategic context. This week, OpenAI announced users can now chat with apps directly inside ChatGPT, including Figma itself alongside Spotify, Canva, and others. Google's response? Go deeper. Instead of surface-level chat integration, they're embedding their models directly into the tools people use every day.
Google simultaneously launched Gemini Enterprise, a conversational AI platform designed to integrate with existing enterprise workflows. The message is clear: AI adoption happens where people already work, not where they have to go to access AI.
"65% of Google Cloud customers are using its AI products," Google noted, countering industry reports that . The difference? Integration over experimentation.
