Attempts by Andy Allen using Figma to create a weather app resulted in a rip-off of Apple's own app (left).
Figma has announced that the company will temporarily disable its primary AI App UI design tool following accusations of training the model on Apple's Weather app.
Controversy has clouded Figma's "Make Design" feature since developer Andy Allen of NotBoring Software proved that asking the AI software to make a weather app repeatedly just copied Apple's app.
In response, Figma CEO Dylan Field called the accusation "false" in a series of tweets on X.com. While relying heavily on off-the-shelf Large Language Models (LLMs), the "Make Design" system also uses what Field called "bespoke underlying design systems" of their own creation.
(1) As we shared at Config last week - as well as on our blog, our website, and many other touchpoints - the Make Design feature is not trained on Figma content, community files or app designs. In other words, the accusations around data training in this tweet are false. https://t.co/jlfmroPPhm
— Dylan Field (@zoink) July 2, 2024
The company has since identified the fault, blaming its own design systems. As of this report, the tool is still offline, with no clear timetable as to its return.
Field reinterated in his X posts that "the Make Design feature is not trained on Figma content, community files, or app designs," refuting Allen's accusation. He then noted that the problem with this approach is that the variability of designs are consequently too low.
"Ultimately it is my fault for not insisting on a better QA process for this work," Field said, "and pushing our team hard to hit a deadline for Config," the company's annual conference. Apple, which supplied Figma with the same design resources used by other developers, has not commented on the matter so far.
The new controversy comes just after Adobe dropped its $20 billion buyout attempt of Figma. The move was in response to objections from UK and EU regulators that the acquisition was anti-competitive.