Maxon's New Generative AI-Powered Tool Faces Backlash
"Read the room."
UPD: The original post promoting the feature has been removed from ZBrush's official Twitter account – though it remains live on Maxon's main page – indicating that the tool described below is likely not a ZBrush feature but a standalone product. The article's original title has been adjusted accordingly.
Original article: Following Autodesk, Adobe, Unity, and so many others, Maxon becomes yet another 3D software developer to step into an AI-related controversy of its own, all over a newly announced feature for ZBrush, the renowned 3D sculpting software acquired by Maxon along with its creator, Pixologic, in late 2021.
Maxon
Dubbed Maxon Digital Twin, the feature in question was unveiled by the Maxon team as part of the ongoing CES 2026 conference and promoted as a tool for turning "your 3D product model into a marketing-ready asset."
While no demo showcases showing how the feature actually works were shared, the team's description of what it does was enough to spark backlash. According to Maxon, MDT can add "AI-generated backgrounds" and "keeps your product 100% accurate by auto-matching lighting/reflections/perspective," immediately raising eyebrows with that "AI-generated" part.
Over on Twitter, for instance, not a single comment on the post announcing the tool is positive as of this writing, with the entire comment section lambasting the company for integrating AI into ZBrush, urging Maxon to "read the room" and reconsider, and pointing out just how smart it had been to stick with a perpetual ZBrush license, which Maxon discontinued back in 2023.
And, as with any generative AI, questions have also arisen about what data was used to train the model, with some now speculating that Maxon may have used content created by ZBrush users for training, further fueling the community's skepticism toward MDT.
And what are your thoughts on ZBrush now featuring a tool for adding AI-generated backgrounds? Would that be enough to discourage you from getting started with the software? Let us know down in the comments below!
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