Figma’s new tool Mac Designs allows users to quickly mock up applications using generative AI. Now, it has been pulled after the tool drafts designs that look similar to Apple’s iOS weather app. Figma CEO Dylan Field Published a book on X Tuesday morning detail removalPutting the blame on oneself Pushes the team to meet a deadlineand protecting the company’s approach to developing its AI tools.
In records In X, Andy Allen, CEO of Not Boring Software, showed how closely Figma’s MacDesign tool replicated Apple’s weather app. “A tip for any designers using the new Mac Designs feature is that you can thoroughly check existing apps or heavily modify results so you don’t unwittingly land yourself in legal trouble” Allen wrote.
In Tuesday’s interview with Figma CTO Kris Rasmussen, I asked him to point out whether MacDesigns trained in Apple’s app designs. His response? He couldn’t be sure. Figma is not responsible for training the AI models it uses.
“We didn’t do any training as part of the AI features that were being generated,” Rasmussen said. The features are “powered by off-the-shelf models and a bespoke design system we commissioned, which appears to be the fundamental problem.”
In response to a user who suggested Mac Designs, what he said on Monday X was generally trained on existing applications. “As we shared when we introduced Figma AI last week, this feature is not part of or any of our creations” He wrote. “We are investigating the extent to which there are similarities against the third-party models we use. We will address as necessary against the design systems we have commissioned to be used by the models.”
Field, in his own book, He said that Mac Designs noted that the feature “has not been trained on Figma content, social files, or app designs” and that “the allegations of data training in this tweet are false.” The problem with the company’s approach is that “The variation is very low.”
According to Rasmussen, OpenAI’s GPD-4O and Amazon’s Titan Image Generator G1 are the main AI models driving Mac designs. If it’s true that Figma doesn’t train its AI tools, but they spit out the look of an Apple app anyway, then OpenAI or Amazon could say the models were trained on Apple’s designs. OpenAI and Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Rasmussen argued that Figma doesn’t want to do any training to improve its features until it informs its users about its AI training policies, which were introduced last week. As part of those policies, users have until August 15th to decide whether they want to opt-in or opt-out of using their content for Figma’s tutorials. (Starter and Professional plans are selected by default, while Organization and Enterprise plans are not selected by default.)
I asked if Figma plans to train its own models – which, by the way, is the company New AI training principles, looks like something is about to happen. “We definitely see opportunities to really complement your design workflow by teaching these models how to design in the context of Figma,” said Rasmussen. However, “we’re going to take steps to ensure that any fine-tuning we do with our own models or open-source models, only the general design patterns and specific Figma design concepts are the best tools for professional designers.”
I also asked Rasmussen how Figma plans to adjust its processes to catch potential problems in the future. “We work through the bespoke design system to ensure it has enough variation and meets our quality standards,” he said. “That is the root of the problem. But we are going to take extra precautions before restarting [Make Designs] To ensure that the entire feature meets our quality standards and aligns with our values.
Rasmussen also pointed out that Mac Designs is in beta. “Betas, by definition, aren’t perfect. But as Dylan shared in his tweet, it’s safe to say that we simply don’t understand this particular problem. We should be.”
Rasmussen said Figma expects to rerun the Mac designs “soon.” Other Figma AI features will continue to be available in beta. (To access Figma’s AI features, you’ll need to sign up for a waiting list.)
Figma is the latest company to come under scrutiny for its approach to bringing AI into its creative tools. Adobe needs to clarify that it won’t use your work to train its AI after a backlash over changing its terms of service. Meta had to change its AI labels after photographers complained that its old label was misapplied to real photos.
