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Here's a quick roundup of the most significant developments in media and entertainment technology this week:
⿻ Freepik's New 'Spaces' Platform Targets Team Workflows with Node-Based AI
Freepik launched Spaces, a collaborative AI creation platform where teams can build, share, and run node-based workflows on an infinite real-time canvas. The system allows multiple users to edit simultaneously, connecting modular nodes for tasks like AI image generation, video creation, and Magnific-powered upscaling. It operates on a freemium model with pre-built templates available for specific media production jobs.
📺 Coke Taps Secret Level for Third AI-Generated Holiday Spot
Coca-Cola's 2025 holiday ad was produced by LA-based AI studio Secret Level, marking the company's third year using generative AI for its holiday marketing, featuring the classic Coca-Cola trucks, animated animals, and Santa Claus. Coca-Cola reduced its human production team from 50 people last year to just 20 for its 2025 AI ad. Coke's global VP of generative AI stated, "The genie is out of the bottle, and you're not going to put it back in," and claimed the craftsmanship is "10 times better" than the 2024 spot.
✂️ Affinity Relaunches Under Canva, Targets Adobe with 'Forever Free' Model
Canva has relaunched Affinity, consolidating its vector, photo, and publishing tools into a single, unified workspace. The biggest news is the new business model: Canva says the platform will be "forever free." This move positions the collaborative, cross-device suite as a direct challenger to Adobe Creative Cloud's dominance in the professional design space.
🅰️ Adobe MAX 2025 Roundup: Firefly 5, Frame.io Intelligence, and Topaz Upscaling Integration
Adobe MAX 2025 centered on suite-wide AI integration. Key updates include Firefly Image Model 5, which Adobe claims offers improved human generation, and new AI-powered masking tools in Photoshop. The new Photoshop build also integrates Topaz Labs' AI models to power generative upscale features, while Frame.io gets media intelligence.
🔀 'Infrastructure for the Creator Ecosystem': Phil Galler Details 180 Studios' Software Vision
VP Land spoke with virtual production veteran Phil Galler about his new software venture at 180 Studios, a partnership with GitHub co-founder Tom Preston-Werner and VP expert Kris Murray. Galler outlined the vision to build artist-centric version control and collaboration tools specifically to manage the "unprecedented volume" of assets generated by AI workflows. The team aims to solve collaboration challenges that existing digital infrastructure wasn't built to handle.
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