Figma\u2019s new tool Make Designs lets users quickly mock up apps using generative AI. Now, it\u2019s been pulled after the tool drafted designs that looked strikingly similar to Apple\u2019s iOS weather app. Figma CEO Dylan Field posted a thread on X<\/a> early Tuesday morning detailing the removal<\/a>, putting the blame on himself for pushing the team to meet a deadline<\/a>, and defending the company\u2019s approach to developing its AI tools.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n In posts<\/a> on X<\/a>, Andy Allen, CEO of Not Boring Software, showed just how closely Figma\u2019s Make Designs tool made near-replicas of Apple\u2019s weather app. \u201cJust a heads up to any designers using the new Make Designs feature that you may want to thoroughly check existing apps or modify the results heavily so that you don\u2019t unknowingly land yourself in legal trouble,\u201d Allen wrote<\/a>. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n In a Tuesday interview with Figma CTO Kris Rasmussen, I asked him point blank if Make Designs was trained on Apple\u2019s app designs. His response? He couldn\u2019t say for sure. Figma was not responsible for training the AI models it used at all.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cWe did no training as part of the generative AI features,\u201d Rasmussen said. The features are \u201cpowered by off-the-shelf models and a bespoke design system that we commissioned, which appears to be the underlying issue.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n That generally matches something he said on Monday on X in response to a user who suggested Make Designs was trained on existing apps. \u201cAs we shared when we launched Figma AI last week, there was no training as part of this feature or any of our generative features,\u201d he wrote<\/a>. \u201cWe are looking into what extent the similarities are a function of the third party models we are using vs. the design systems we commissioned to be used by the models and we will address as needed.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Field, in his own thread, said that<\/a> the Make Designs feature \u201cis not trained on Figma content, community files or app designs\u201d and noted that \u201cthe accusations around data training in this tweet are false.\u201d He said a problem with the company\u2019s approach is that \u201cvariability is too low<\/a>.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n The key AI models that power Make Designs are OpenAI\u2019s GPT-4o and Amazon\u2019s Titan Image Generator G1, according to Rasmussen. If it\u2019s true that Figma didn\u2019t train its AI tools but they\u2019re spitting out Apple app lookalikes anyway, that could suggest that OpenAI or Amazon\u2019s models were trained on Apple\u2019s designs. OpenAI and Amazon didn\u2019t immediately reply to a request for comment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Rasmussen argued that Figma didn\u2019t want to do any training to improve its features until it was open with its users about its AI training policies, which it also introduced last week. As part of those policies, users have until August 15th to decide if they want to opt in or out of allowing their content to be used for Figma\u2019s training. (Starter and Professional plans are opted in by default, while Organization and Enterprise plans are opted out by default.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n I asked if Figma is planning on training its own models \u2014 which, given the company\u2019s new AI training policies<\/a>, seems like something that\u2019s going to happen. \u201cWe definitely see opportunities to really perfect your design workflows by teaching these models how to design in the context of Figma,\u201d Rasmussen said. However, \u201cwe\u2019re going to be taking steps to ensure that our own models or any fine-tuning we do with open source models only learn general design patterns and specific Figma design concepts so that they can be better tools for professional designers.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n I also asked Rasmussen how Figma plans to fix its processes to catch potential issues in the future. \u201cWe\u2019re doing a pass over the bespoke design system to ensure that it has sufficient variation and meets our quality standards,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s the root cause of the issue. But we\u2019re going to take additional precautions before we re-enable [Make Designs] to make sure that the entire feature meets our quality standards and is consistent with our values.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Rasmussen also pointed to the fact that Make Designs is in beta. \u201cBetas, by definition, are not perfect. But it\u2019s safe to say, as Dylan shared in his tweet, that we simply didn\u2019t catch this particular issue. And we should have.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Rasmussen said Figma expects to re-enable Make Designs \u201csoon.\u201d Other Figma AI features will continue to be available in beta. (To access any of Figma\u2019s AI features, you have to sign up for a waitlist.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Figma is the latest company to come under scrutiny for its approach to bringing AI into its creative tools. Adobe had to make clear that it wouldn\u2019t use your work to train its AI<\/a> after backlash toward terms of service changes. And Meta has had to change its AI labels<\/a> after photographers complained about its old label being incorrectly applied to real photos<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n