Google is quietly building an AI version of Canva inside Workspace — and Nano Banana could make it seriously useful

image via TechRadar

September 3, 2026, 2:35 PM

• •Google Pics is presented as Google's AI-based alternative to Canva and Adobe Express.
• •Users can create invitations, posters and social graphics from prompts, then edit individual objects or text without regenerating the whole image.
• •The tool supports text editing, translation, cropping for different formats, and image upscaling to 2K or 4K.
• •Pics is powered by Nano Banana, Gemini's image generation and editing model.
• •Google is integrating Pics directly into Docs and Slides, with deeper Drive integration planned over the following weeks.
• •Availability is rolling out to Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers and eligible Workspace business and education users.

Google has begun rolling out Pics, an AI-powered image creation and editing tool inside Google Workspace. The product lets users generate graphics from text prompts, edit specific elements, translate or reformat text, and resize or upscale images. TechRadar says Pics is less feature-rich than Canva, but its tight integration with Docs, Slides and Drive could make it attractive for everyday workplace design tasks. Google is offering it to AI Pro and Ultra subscribers as well as selected Workspace business and education customers.

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