Figma co-founder and CEO Dylan Field expressed confidence Thursday that artificial intelligence does not pose a serious threat to the design software company’s future, even as it prepares to go public.
“We’re in this moment where you might, if you’re singularity-pilled, go, ‘Hey, superintelligence is coming and it’ll be able to do things that no human can do,’” Field told CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “I have a harder time believing that we’re going to approach that really quickly right now, but that doesn’t mean it’s out of the picture.”
Public Market Debut and Valuation
Figma is set to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday under the ticker symbol “FIG.” The company had initially indicated a share price range of $25 to $28 but priced above expectations at $33 per share.
This pricing values Figma at approximately $19.3 billion. The company had previously been set for acquisition by Adobe for $20 billion, but that deal was called off in December 2023 due to regulatory concerns.
The Challenge of Superintelligence for Figma
Superintelligence, an AI concept describing machines surpassing human intelligence, has recently gained attention among tech leaders. Field emphasized that Figma’s complex graphics engine and technological infrastructure make it difficult for such AI to replicate or replace the product quickly.
“That’s not stuff that you can learn from looking at code and sort of various places on the internet,” Field said. “It’s not part of the pretraining data mix. I believe that doing that at scale — it’s quite difficult.”
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been outspoken about superintelligence’s potential, describing it as a tool for “individual empowerment” rather than mere automation.
Meta has established a dedicated lab focused on superintelligence and invested billions to assemble top AI talent.
Author’s Opinion
While the buzz around superintelligence is growing, the real challenge lies in how AI can augment human creativity without replacing the nuanced expertise behind complex tools like Figma. It’s unlikely that AI will fully substitute such platforms anytime soon, but companies must focus on integrating AI to enhance user experience rather than fear being overtaken.
Featured image credit: Wikimedia Commons
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