Adobe is trying to buy an important AI upstart

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Image: Adobe

Adobe is acquiring Topaz Labs, the company behind widely used image and video enhancement tools, including Topaz Photo, Topaz Video and Topaz Gigapixel.

The announcement follows a previous partnership between the two companies, unveiled at Adobe Max in October 2025. At the time, Adobe integrated some of Topaz's popular upscale, denoise and sharpen models directly into Photoshop, providing access to the tools using Adobe's AI credits rather than a separate paid subscription for each app. Topaz Gigapixel was also added to the cloud-based version of Lightroom in February 2026.

With the acquisition, Adobe says it plans to expand Topaz's AI enhancement models – which include upscaling, noise removal, sharpening, stabilization, frame interpolation and footage restoration – across its Firefly AI generation software, Firefly Services, and Creative Cloud products. Adobe also highlighted the integration of Topaz's proprietary Neurostream technology, which enables large AI models to run locally on consumer hardware rather than requiring cloud processing.

What this means for existing Topaz customers isn't totally clear. Adobe says Topaz products will continue to be available as standalone offerings through Topaz's own website after the deal closes, and that Topaz Labs CEO Eric Yang will remain with the company. It adds that customers "can expect continued support and investment in future innovation." However, the announcement makes no mention of pricing, subscription structure or how Topaz's tools will be positioned relative to Creative Cloud subscriptions going forward.

The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2026, pending regulatory approval (which isn't always a given).

Adobe to Acquire Topaz Labs

Adobe has seen strong demand for its AI products for creatives, including Adobe Firefly, the all-in-one creative AI studio, and Firefly Services, a collection of creative and generative APIs and services for enterprises
The combination of Topaz Labs, which specializes in developing industry-leading video and image enhancement models, with Adobe's leading creative products will provide creators, designers, video professionals, photographers and enterprises the tools to achieve exceptional quality across every format and workflow
Topaz Labs brings deep expertise in optimizing large, complex AI models to run directly on device, a capability that will allow Adobe to deliver faster, more responsive creative experiences for customers and make advanced AI more accessible and cost effective for creatives

SAN JOSE, Calif. —June 25, 2026 — Adobe (Nasdaq:ADBE) — the global technology leader that unleashes creativity, productivity and customer experiences through innovative tools and platforms — today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Topaz Labs, an AI company specializing in industry-leading video and image enhancement models.

Adobe empowers everyone from first-time creators to creative professionals and enterprises with groundbreaking AI tools and technology across every stage of the creative process. Adobe's creative AI portfolio brings together industry-leading AI models in Adobe Firefly the all-in-one creative AI studio, and Adobe Creative Cloud applications including Photoshop, Lightroom, Premiere and more, delivering creative professionals pixel-level control and precision tooling.

As AI rapidly reshapes video and image creation, creatives are increasingly working across hybrid workflows that combine traditionally captured footage with AI-generated content, and they are expected to deliver high-quality results across a growing range of formats, devices and production methods. Topaz Labs provides a broad array of advanced AI models for video and image enhancement that analyze and improve existing visual content by sharpening detail, removing noise, restoring footage and increasing resolution, making them essential for any workflow that combines real-world capture with AI-generated imagery.

Topaz Labs develops professional quality AI video and image enhancement models and tools that are trusted by creative professionals such as Asteria Film Co, award-winning filmmaker Robert Stone and enterprises to deliver exceptional fidelity and high-quality results across professional filmmaking, documentary restoration, social content creation, photography and archival workflows. The company has developed proprietary AI models to support professional video use cases such as upscaling, sharpening, stabilization, frame interpolation, noise removal, footage restoration and more.

"Adobe Firefly, Firefly Services and Creative Cloud offer the industry's best creative tooling and top AI models for creators and brands, and we're excited to build on the strong demand for these products with Topaz Labs," said David Wadhwani, President, Creativity & Productivity Business, Adobe. "Creators are creating more content by mixing captured and generated images and video, and with Topaz Labs we will give every creator the quality and control to easily produce that content at higher quality and resolution."

"Building technology to make images and videos look their absolute best has been our life's work for more than twenty years," said Eric Yang, CEO of Topaz Labs. "We've always believed that technology should serve human creativity rather than replace it — and so has Adobe. Together, we believe we can dramatically expand what's possible for filmmakers and creators everywhere."

With Topaz Labs, Adobe will expand its video and image model offerings with state-of-the-art AI enhancement models in Adobe Firefly, Firefly Services and Creative Cloud apps, giving creators, designers, video professionals, photographers and enterprises the tools to achieve exceptional quality across every format and workflow. With millions of customers, Topaz Labs and its Emmy Award-winning AI technology will be integrated across Adobe's creative AI portfolio, giving creatives the ability to enhance footage, restore and remaster archival content, and blend AI-generated and traditionally captured content into seamless final productions. Topaz Labs will also bring its proprietary Neurostream technology that enables large, complex AI models to run locally on consumer devices, democratizing advanced image and video models previously limited to high-end systems or cloud-only usage and positioning Adobe to tap into the growing opportunity for efficient, on-device AI video.

After the transaction closes, Topaz Labs customers of all sizes can expect continued support and investment in future innovation and Topaz Labs products will remain available as standalone offerings through the company's website. Upon close, Topaz Labs CEO Eric Yang will continue to lead the Topaz Labs team.

Transaction Details

The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2026, subject to the receipt of required regulatory approvals and the satisfaction of other customary closing conditions.

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