Canva cuts 2026 revenue growth forecast to 20% amid rising AI costs

Canva just told investors to expect less growth, and the reason is one of the most expensive problems in tech right now: making AI products that don’t bleed money. The Australian design software giant revised its 2026 revenue growth forecast from 30% down to 20%, a decision CEO Melanie Perkins framed as a deliberate trade-off between speed and economic sustainability. The announcement came in the company’s Q2 2026 investor update, landing at a moment when the entire software industry is grappling with the same uncomfortable math: AI features that users love can be ruinously expensive to run. The numbers behind the slowdown Canva’s Q2 2026 revenue came in at $921.9 million, representing 25.2% year-over-year growth. The gap between 25% actual growth and the original 30% target reflects real operational friction. The culprit, according to the company, is a combination of delayed product launches, slower distribution, and the resource-intensive process of rebuilding Canva’s AI architecture. Perkins indicated the company chose to deliberately slow product rollouts rather than ship AI features at unsustainable unit economics. The company closed 2025 with annual recurring revenue of rough...