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Reviewed and published by trentmaziarz, March 18, 2026. Discovered and drafted by our automated research pipeline.

In June 2024, Adobe pushed updated Terms of Use to all Creative Cloud users that required mandatory acceptance before they could continue using their software. The language alarmed many users and creative professionals who believed Adobe was claiming the right to use their personal work to train AI models. Adobe published clarifications and then released fully revised terms later that month.

Details

The controversy centered on Section 4.2 of Adobe's terms, which granted Adobe a broad license to user content, alongside separate language allowing Adobe to access content for "content review" via automated and manual methods. A social media post about the update went viral with over 5 million views. Adobe published clarifications on June 6 and June 10 stating it does not and will not train generative AI on user content without consent, then released revised terms on June 24, 2024. Separately, on June 17, 2024, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission filed suit against Adobe over alleged dark patterns in subscription cancellation flows — a distinct but concurrent controversy.

Products affected

All Creative Cloud products

Sources & Evidence

Company Disclosure

Company DisclosureVerified

Updating Adobe’s Terms of Use

Adobe Blog·Jun 2024

https://blog.adobe.com/en/publish/2024/06/10/updating-adobes-terms-of-use

News Article

Photographers Outraged by Adobe’s New Privacy and Content Terms

PetaPixel·Jun 2024

https://petapixel.com/2024/06/06/photographers-outraged-by-adobes-new-privacy-and-content-terms/

Cite this record

Trace Foundation. (2026). Adobe: In June 2024, Adobe pushed updated Terms of Use to all Creative Cloud users that required mandatory acceptance before they could continue using their software. The language alarmed many users and creative professionals who believed Adobe was claiming the right to use their personal work to train AI models. Adobe published clarifications and then released fully revised terms later that month (data as of 2026-03-18) [Data set record]. AI Trace. https://www.aitrace.org/r/practice/949cda2f-8904-40ed-8d06-b6ab016e7d3f. Accessed October 13, 2026.

Stable link: https://www.aitrace.org/r/practice/949cda2f-8904-40ed-8d06-b6ab016e7d3f
Data as of: March 18, 2026
Last verified: February 28, 2026

How to cite AI Trace

Other practices by Adobe

OtherAdobe InDesign version 21.2, released in January 2026, added an AI feature that automatically generates alt text — written descriptions of images used by screen readers to assist people who are blind or have low vision. The feature is on by default and has received mixed reactions from users about its accuracy.OtherAdobe has maintained a formal set of AI ethics principles since 2019, built around three pillars: Accountability, Responsibility, and Transparency. Every product team developing an AI feature must complete an internal AI Ethics Impact Assessment before launch. Adobe updated these principles in October 2024.Creative GenAdobe co-founded the Content Authenticity Initiative (CAI) in November 2019 with The New York Times and Twitter to build open-source tools and industry standards that let people verify where a piece of digital media came from and whether it has been altered. As of January 2026, the CAI has over 6,000 member organizations including major news outlets, camera makers, tech companies, and social platforms

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