Leonardo AI Rebrands Around Creator Control With 'Yours to Create'
Leonardo AI shifts from experimentation tool to professional infrastructure with new 'Yours to Create' rebrand. 200%+ ARR growth from enterprise customers validates creator-first platform strategy.
Leonardo AI, a generative AI platform owned by Canva, launched a new brand identity called "Yours to Create" on February 19, 2026, positioning human creativity at the center of AI-assisted production.
The rebrand, developed with creative studio Koto, coincides with the launch of a new visual-first API and comes as the platform reports 200%+ year-over-year growth in annual recurring revenue from business customers.
Platform Shifts From Experimentation Tool to Professional Infrastructure
The "Yours to Create" identity marks a deliberate move away from positioning AI as an independent creative force. Leonardo AI's new visual-first API allows design teams to build outputs visually inside the platform and extract production-ready code directly, without requiring specialist prompt engineering skills.
Mission Media
CEO JJ Fiasson described the platform's role as a "sparring partner" for creators. "AI is rapidly shifting from something creators experiment with to something embedded across creative workflows," Fiasson said. "But one thing stays the same: human creativity is always at the center. It cannot be replicated."
Head of Creative Dwayne Koh noted the audience has shifted significantly. "We're now speaking to a much wider creative community of people who are using AI as part of real workflows, not just experimenting with it on the side," Koh said.
To mark the launch, Leonardo AI partnered with AI-focused creative agency 10kr to produce manifesto videos generated entirely using Leonardo's own technology.
Commercial Growth Validates Enterprise Pivot
The rebrand is backed by measurable commercial acceleration. Leonardo AI reported 50%+ year-over-year user base growth and a doubling of total AI media generations on the platform over the past year.
The platform also launched the Leonardo Imagination Fund alongside the rebrand, supporting AI-powered projects across film, design, and the arts.
The rebrand's visual identity deliberately moved away from what Koh described as "visual clichés that defined the early AI era," signaling a push toward aesthetic credibility as a competitive requirement in the generative AI market.
Competing platforms including Adobe Firefly and Midjourney continue to focus heavily on model capability. Leonardo AI's repositioning centers instead on workflow integration and creator control as its primary points of difference.
Canva Acquisition Provides Scale Across Asia-Pacific
Canva acquired Leonardo AI on July 29, 2024, retaining all 120 employees and the full executive team. The acquisition gives Leonardo AI access to Canva's 190 million-plus global users and its established presence across Asia-Pacific markets, where Canva has significant reach among small businesses, marketing teams, and creative agencies.
Leonardo AI's Phoenix model, which powers features including accurate text rendering and one-shot asset generation, has been integrated into Canva's Magic Studio AI suite, with a planned rollout to Canva's broader user base. Canva has committed to no user data sharing without opt-in consent.
A Canva Create 2025 session subsequently featured Leonardo AI's tools, confirming active cross-platform promotion between the two products.
Fiasson outlined the platform's broader ambition: "Too often, the AI conversation is focused on what the technology can do. We're looking at the potential of human creativity, and designing tools to unlock what's possible for millions of creators every day, now at even greater scale in Canva AI."
Leonardo AI has not announced a specific Asia-Pacific rollout timeline for the new API.
Want to stay up-to-date on the stories shaping Asia's media, marketing, and comms industry? Subscribe to Mission Media for exclusive insights, campaign deep-dives, and actionable intel.
