Leap 2026: Adobe to give 27 million Saudi residents year-long access to AI tools in $4bn deal
text_fields
About 27 million people living in Saudi Arabia will receive a year of free access to two Adobe products under a technology initiative announced at LEAP 2026 in Riyadh.
Saudi citizens and expatriate residents aged 13 and above will qualify for 12 consecutive months of Adobe Firefly Standard and Adobe Express Premium at no cost.
The services will be introduced in phases through the end of 2026.
The program forms part of a project valued at more than $4 billion, equivalent to about ₹330 billion.
Adobe is carrying out the initiative with Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology and Humain, a company owned by the Public Investment Fund.
The project expands a partnership established at the Saudi-US Investment Forum in November 2025.
Adobe Firefly provides generative AI tools for creating and editing images and other content.
Adobe Express allows users to produce designs, presentations, videos and social media material through web and mobile services.
Eligible users in Saudi Arabia will receive the Standard version of Firefly and the Premium version of Express free for one year.
Adobe Express has been updated with wider Arabic-language support across iOS and web platforms.
The service includes right-to-left text functions, additional Arabic typography and professionally designed templates reflecting Saudi cultural styles.
The changes are intended to make the tools easier to use for Arabic-speaking students, creators, businesses and other residents.
Adobe and Humain are jointly developing a generative image model through Adobe Firefly Foundry.
The model is being designed to recognise Saudi heritage, culture and visual identity more accurately.
Users will be able to write prompts in Arabic to create images based on Saudi themes.
Although the technology is being developed in the Kingdom, the partners plan to make it available internationally at a later stage.
The Adobe Digital Academy will offer free practical training through Saudi Arabia’s Future Skills initiative.
Courses will cover design, digital marketing and artificial intelligence.
The training is aimed at developing the capabilities of students, creators and emerging entrepreneurs across the Kingdom.
From early 2027, eligible startups and developing businesses will receive one year of free access to Adobe’s main creative software packages.
The support will be available to companies backed by the Digital Entrepreneurship Center and The Garage.
Participating businesses will also receive guidance from industry specialists.
Saudi Communications and Information Technology Minister Abdullah Alswaha and Adobe chief executive Shantanu Narayen said the program was intended to make AI tools available to everyday users and support the Kingdom’s creative economy.