Good morning, Broadsheet readers! Women now account for at least half of top business schools’ students, Kamala Harris warns of AI’s “existential” threats, and Canva’s CEO explains her AI strategy. Have a restful weekend!
– Magical thinking. Earlier this year, Canva cofounder and CEO Melanie Perkins told me about the major problem she saw in the AI landscape: It was too fragmented, with products for writing or for video but nothing that incorporated everything in the same place.
A few weeks ago, the Sydney-based CEO took a step toward filling that gap—and seizing that business opportunity—with the launch of Canva’s Magic Studio. Released in October, the suite of tools creates AI-generated images, videos, presentations, and writing. It can shuffle between those formats, turning a slideshow deck into a t-shirt design. It translates across languages and learns a company’s brand voice to create visuals and text.
“It’s the first all-in-one AI design platform on the market,” Perkins says. “The real power of Canva comes from being able to have it all integrated into workflows.” She believes that AI “supercharges” Canva’s initial goal, set a decade ago, of making design more accessible for everyone, including those with no design experience.
Canva CEO Melanie Perkins.Courtesy of Canva The AI race has tech founders competing with each other, but Perkins says she doesn’t believe in “reinventing the wheel.” Canva incorporates technologies like ChatGPT into its platform and the company has built out its AI team through acquisitions, including the 2021 purchase of Kaleido, a startup that specialized in removing backgrounds from videos. That organization’s team has been critical to building out Canva’s AI platform.
With a valuation of $26 billion, down from a $40 billion high, Canva is still the highest-valued female-founded and -led startup in the world. It’s getting closer to a U.S. listing, although Perkins declines to comment directly. The 36-year-old CEO believes in the power of storytelling—visual storytelling in particular. As she aims to build a top-tier tech company that competes with giants like Microsoft and Google, she’s hit a storytelling trifecta: Canva’s entry into the AI hype cycle coincides with the startup’s 10-year anniversary and its potential upcoming Nasdaq listing.
Emma Hinchliffe
[email protected]
@_emmahinchliffe
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- All eyes on Ellison. After FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was found guilty on seven counts of fraud last night, all eyes are on Caroline Ellison. The former Alameda CEO cooperated with the prosecution and may expect leniency as a result. Bloomberg
- Degrees of progress. Women accounted for at least half of full-time MBA students enrolled at five of the world’s most prestigious business schools this year, including the University of Oxford and Johns Hopkins. More than 40% of the student population at the top business schools in the U.S. are also now women, the result of diverse enrollment initiatives. Wall Street Journal
- AI's vices. Vice President Kamala Harris said AI byproducts of discrimination and disinformation are a threat to democracy. In a speech at the U.S. embassy in London on Wednesday, the VP also announced U.S.-led measures like a standard-setting “A.I. Safety Institute” and a declaration on proper military uses of AI. New York Times
- Behind the bot. Companies like Microsoft and Alphabet are turning to an India-based data vendor of mostly female contractors to train their AI models on Indian dialects and reduce their gender bias. The women are paid significantly more than local minimum wages to prime AI models that can better serve Indians who don't speak English. Bloomberg
- For business' sake. Reaching gender parity in employee ranks and on corporate boards can improve a company’s bottom line and their sustainability, two new studies indicate. A new BlackRock report found that companies with workforces close to gender parity tend to record better returns on assets than others, while a Harvard Business Review study shows that the addition of one female director correlated to a 17.5% jump in ESG ratings.
- White House to warehouse. Shein’s campaign to expand its fashion offerings to Western consumers now includes the appointment of Frances Townsend as a senior advisor to the company. Townsend, once Homeland Security Advisor to George W. Bush and an executive at Activision Blizzard, will likely be a valuable asset to the company as it tries to distance itself from manufacturing controversies and growing U.S.-China tensions. Wall Street Journal
MOVERS AND SHAKERS: The Federal Reserve Bank of New York appointed Kelly Bliss to its Second District Advisory Council. Patreon named Brielle Villablanca as VP of comms & Creator Advocacy.
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