Pros Try Fake AI Photoshop

Summary
In this video from Linus Tech Tips, host Linus Sebastian investigates the viral phenomenon of AI-reconstructed software, specifically focusing on Photon Studio (an AI-generated clone of Adobe Photoshop created by Tanzen Studio). Linus explains the technical and legal distinctions between binary decompilation and AI-assisted “functional reconstruction,” while Linus Media Group creatives and editors test Photon Studio against real Adobe Photoshop in common production tasks.

What is shown

• [00:06] Linus highlights viral social media posts announcing a feature-complete AI clone of Photoshop (Photon Studio) and open-source suites like ArtCraft (PhotoCraft, VectorCraft, FilmCraft, etc.), as well as AI-assisted game mashups (skateboarding in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and extraction shooting in Skyrim).
• [01:31] Linus shows the Tanzen Studio website for Photon Studio, noting it abruptly switched from a $70 purchase model to a free download.
• [01:50] Staff members Robert Oakes, Brad Bennett, Reece Murray, Riley Murdock, Ashley Wong, and Victor Zheng begin side-by-side blind/comparative testing of Photoshop versus Photon Studio (“I Can’t Believe It’s Not Photoshop”).
• [02:18] Robert tests image loading, noting Photon Studio is noticeably slower to import images and open files compared to Photoshop.
• [02:32] Reece tests opening and developing camera RAW files; one file fails to open entirely in Photon Studio, though basic slider adjustments work on another.
• [03:00] Linus details binary decompilation versus AI-powered “functional reconstruction,” drawing historical comparisons to Phoenix Technologies’ 1980s clean-room reverse engineering of the IBM PC BIOS.
• [03:25] Ashley and Victor test basic graphic design tasks (face replacement, text placement, color gradients, layer manipulation), encountering visual layer glitches and odd behavior.
• [05:03] Riley and Robert test “Select Subject” and object selection tools; Photon Studio struggles with edges (such as cutting off parts of a pirate hat or selecting background pixels under layers).
• [07:23] Reece and Peter test exposure and shadow recovery on high-contrast RAW images; Photon Studio fails to recover dynamic range from deep shadows compared to Camera Raw in Photoshop.
• [07:55] Brad tests the color mixer and manual adjustments, experiencing render preview lag, UI freezes, and an infinite loop/window duplication bug [08:06].
• [08:12] Riley tests transform tools, noting severe display latency where the selection outline moves but the canvas image lags seconds behind.
• [08:44] Staff give their verdict: while Photon replicates Photoshop’s UI and core shortcuts surprisingly well, sluggish performance, missing depth in RAW handling, and severe bugs make it unusable for professional workflows without significant development.

Claims & numbers

• The presenter notes viral claims described Photon as a feature-complete $70 one-time purchase clone working across Windows, macOS, and Linux, which switched to being completely free within hours of filming.
• Linus claims traditional decompilation has historically been extremely labor-intensive (citing the 2019 fan decompilation of Super Mario 64), but generative AI allows automated functional recreation from prompts and behavior modeling.
• The video references Phoenix Technologies’ historic clean-room reverse engineering of IBM PC BIOS manuals, noting US legal precedents protect functional reverse-engineering when original code is not directly copied.

Notable quotes

• [01:37] “Wait, it’s free now? As of filming? That changed in the last three hours?” — Linus Sebastian
• [04:44] “It’s probably closer to ‘functional reconstruction’, where the new AI-generated source is intended to reproduce the same behavior as the original software, but has completely different bytes...” — Linus Sebastian
• [08:35] “As like someone who would be doing this professionally, having to wait this long for every tweak... game over.” — Brad Bennett

Assessment
This is a hands-on review and technical analysis of an AI-reconstructed software clone (Photon Studio) by creative professionals. The testing is conducted live in a production environment, candidly showing both functional successes (accurate UI layout, basic tool functionality) and genuine flaws (extreme latency, RAW decoding limitations, and rendering glitches).

Described by gemini-3.8-flash on 2026-10-15 from the video’s audio and frames.