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

Google is quietly developing an AI-powered version of Canva, called Google Pics, and integrating it into their Workspace suite of applications. The image creation and editing tool, which uses Google's Gemini model called Nano Banana, is currently rolling out to Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers, as well as eligible Workspace business and education customers.

Unlike Canva, which relies on a vast library of pre-made templates, Google Pics generates images based solely on text prompts. Users describe their desired creation, like a birthday invitation or a social media graphic, and the AI produces multiple versions for selection. Individual objects, text, and images can be edited, reformatted, translated, cropped, upscaled, and even changed in bulk, without the need to regenerate the entire image.

Google Ads has integrated Pics into Docs, Slides, and Drive, allowing users to edit images directly within these applications without having to switch between multiple tools. This collaboration feature, similar to other Workspace files, may make Pics increasingly useful for everyday graphic needs. Despite being less feature-rich than Canva, Google Pics aims to bring the question of whether users truly need to open Canva for simple graphic tasks.