by Selena Hill
May 6, 2026
The newly founded AI platform hosted an exclusive demo for digital developers
UPSCALE DAY NYC didn’t feel like a typical tech demo; it felt more like a quiet revolution.
The day-long event, held in Lower Manhattan, focused on combining creative advertising with new technologies and featured creators, technologists and storytellers shaping modern brand storytelling. It was hosted by the company formerly known as Freepik, which announced last month that it had now become Magnific, a new AI-powered creative platform that allows users to generate images, videos and audio using AI tools. Magnific also provides users with professional workflows, collaboration tools, and a library of more than 250 million inventory resources.
For a select group of creatives, Magnific’s “hub” proved to be more than just a suite of tools. It was a reimagining of the way ideas move – from thought to implementation – in a world where speed, scale and imagination are no longer limited by technical ability.
What is Magnific? (Formerly Freepik)
According to a press release shared with BLACK COMPANYFreepik’s renaming to Magnific marks a decisive break with the company’s origins as a stock image platform. What started as a search engine for design assets in 2010 has evolved into a full-stack AI creative ecosystem spanning image generation, video, audio, 3D, and collaborative workflows. Today, Magnific reports that it has more than one million paid subscribers, over 250 enterprise customers, and annual recurring revenue of over $200 million.
The rise of the “no-collar” economy
In a statement, Magnific CEO Joaquín Cuenca Abela described the company’s transformation as a move away from fragmented tools toward a more integrated creative infrastructure. He also talked about traditional creative roles versus the “no-collar economy.”
“The industrial revolution created the blue-collar economy. The digital revolution created the office economy,” Cuenca Abela said in a press release. “The creatives, the dreamers, are about to become more powerful than anyone expected. This is the no-collar economy. And it’s already underway.”
According to company data, 72% of new users identify as beginners, underscoring how AI is flattening the learning curve and democratizing access to high-level creative production.
This democratization was clearly visible at the event. You didn’t have to be a trained designer or editor. All you needed was a vision – and a willingness to experiment. In this new paradigm, taste is as important as technical ability – or perhaps even more.
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