Canva has reassured its workforce that the integration of its recent artificial intelligence acquisition, Leonardo.AI, into the design platform will not result in any job losses. The company dismissed media speculations regarding layoffs as inaccurate.
According to a report from The Australian, Cliff Obrecht, Canva's chief operating officer and co-founder, held a video conference last week with Leonardo's 150 employees in North Sydney, indicating that the organization would be undergoing restructuring. Obrecht reportedly informed the team that while many employees would be aligned with ongoing AI initiatives, some would be encouraged to explore other job opportunities within Canva.
Lachlan, Canva’s Head of Corporate and Internal Communications, clarified to Startup Daily that the company is not considering layoffs, stating that discussions of job losses were never communicated to the staff. He criticized The Australian for not reaching out for a comment before publishing their article, emphasizing that had they done so, the facts could have been clearly communicated.
The article appeared against the backdrop of growing concerns surrounding job security in the tech sector, particularly following the announcement by US fintech company Block of a 40% workforce reduction, amounting to 4,000 jobs, and Sydney’s WiseTech Global stating it would eliminate 2,000 coding positions, both citing AI advancements as the rationale.
Canva expressed its commitment to intensifying its AI integration efforts with Leonardo, explaining that a small team will continue to develop Leonardo as a separate product while others will transition into one of over 100 AI-focused product and research teams. Since its acquisition by Canva in 2024 for over $300 million, Leonardo has functioned as an independent entity, with its technology already woven into significant aspects of Canva’s offerings.
A spokesperson highlighted Leonardo’s reputation as a leader in image and video generation, an essential component for Canva's expansive user base of 265 million. The spokesperson stated that the integration phase would see team members from Leonardo shift into various teams across Canva, aiming to leverage their expertise across Canva’s broader AI product suite while still investing in Leonardo as a standalone offering, ensuring support for its existing community.
Additionally, Obrecht recently announced Canva's acquisition of two more startups, Mango.AI and Cavalry, from the US and UK. Mango.AI, a 10-month-old marketing algorithm startup based in San Francisco, was still operating in stealth mode, while Cavalry is a UK-based platform specializing in 2D animation for motion designers.
With these new acquisitions, Canva has expanded its portfolio to five companies in the last two years, following previous acquisitions of Affinity and Leonardo in 2024, as well as MagicBrief the year prior.