AIxDesign
AIxDesign is a non-profit community organization uniting designers and technologists to explore AI's creative potential through open-access tools, research, and events. Based in Amsterdam, it serves 1,500+ members across 63 countries via workshops, toolkits, and creative programming.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2019
- HeadquartersAmsterdam, Netherlands
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingServices
What AIxDesign does
AIxDesign is a non-profit community organization founded in 2019 and headquartered in Amsterdam, Netherlands, that operates a global network of designers, technologists, researchers, and educators exploring the intersection of AI and design. The organization maintains a community of 1,500+ members distributed across 63 countries, supplemented by a Slack workspace with 1.2k+ active participants and a monthly newsletter reaching 6,000 subscribers. Its mission is framed around "making AI work for the rest of us" by challenging dominant techno-utopian and techno-dystopian narratives through decolonial, intersectional, and feminist approaches. The core team consists of five working members: Nadia Piet (Creative Lead, co-founder), Ploipailin Flynn (Project Lead, co-founder), Elena Zaghis (Content Lead), Ana Marques (Graphic Design Lead), and Sofia Vieira (Fundraising Lead).
AIxDesign does not develop proprietary AI software or sell licensed technology products. Instead, its portfolio comprises open-access research outputs, educational toolkits, community programming, and creative projects that leverage existing AI systems (notably generative image and text tools) as objects of study and provocation. Core products include the AI Meets Design Toolkit (80,000+ downloads, 32 academic citations), the AI Ideation Card Deck (431 sets sold), the Archival Images of AI Playbook (two Lovie Awards), the AIxDESIGN Cartographies ecosystem map, and creative installations such as Prompt Your Person (1,800+ interactions at Dutch Design Week 2024) and Provotyping Towards a Feminist UX of UI (20+ speculative prototypes). Educational programming has delivered 137 sessions reaching 12,000+ people across 19 countries, adopted by 78 educators across 27 universities. Annual flagship events such as the AIxDESIGN Festival 2025: On Slow AI (Amsterdam, May 2025) anchor the programming calendar.
Revenue is diversified across four streams with no single dominant line: (1) recurring community subscriptions via the AIxDESIGN Friends program (€2/€5/€20+ monthly tiers); (2) one-time sales of physical and digital resources through Gumroad (primarily the AI Ideation Card Deck and toolkit downloads); (3) paid workshop facilitation for institutional clients including WeTransfer, Impact Hub, Ars Electronica, V2, and DPG; and (4) project-based grants and commissioned research from bodies such as UK ICO, Stimuleringsfonds Creatieve Industrie, Dutch Research Council (AI Squared consortium), AI4Media (EU Horizon 2020 grant No. 951911), SIDN fund, Cultuurloket DigitALL, and corporate workplace giving via Benevity. The organization explicitly states it has been "underfunded for five years," and no venture, private equity, or institutional investment has been identified.
AIxDesign firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- AIxDesign
- Legal name
- AIxDesign
- Website
- https://aixdesign.co
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2019
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- AIxDesign is a non-profit community organization uniting designers and technologists to explore AI's creative potential through open-access tools, research, and events. Based in Amsterdam, it serves 1,500+ members across 63 countries via workshops, toolkits, and creative programming.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
AIxDesign industry classification
Industry- Product category
- AI Design Education and Community Services
- NAICS
- Educational Support Services (611710), All Other Schools and Instruction (61169)
- SIC
- Services-Educational Services (8200)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Simulation & Scenario-Based Learning Authoring (EDAFAHAD)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- AI & Machine Learning (Foundations & Applied) (EDAMACAG)
Keywords
Where AIxDesign is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Amsterdam
- HQ country
- Netherlands
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices2 records
Markets served
AIxDesign business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain, Others
Revenue model
- Community Support / Friends Program: Monthly subscription-based community funding program with three tiers: €2/month for students/starving artists, €5/month standard friend, and €20/month for those with high-paying jobs. All donations exclusively support community operations.
- Resource Sales: Sale of physical and digital resources including the AI Ideation Card Deck (431 sets sold), toolkit downloads, and merchandise through Gumroad storefront.
- Workshop Facilitation: Paid workshops and educational sessions for organizations including WeTransfer, Impact Hub, Ars Electronica, V2, and DPG, helping them understand AI fundamentals, spot bias, and integrate AI mindfully.
- Grants and Commissioned Research: Funding from cultural foundations and government bodies for specific projects, including commissioned research from UK ICO, project grants from Stimuleringsfonds Creatieve Industrie, and participation in research consortia like AI Squared (Dutch Research Council).
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Monthly | AIxDESIGN Friend (Standard) |
| Subscription | Monthly | AIxDESIGN Friend (High-Paying Job) |
| Subscription | Monthly | AIxDESIGN Friend (Starving Artist) |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | AI Ideation Card Deck |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels11 records
AIxDesign product offering
Product offeringCore offering
AIxDesign is a non-profit community organization that produces and distributes open educational toolkits, runs critical AI literacy workshops for organizations, hosts community events and an annual festival, and publishes research on alternative AI narratives aimed at designers and creative practitioners. Offerings include the AI Meets Design Toolkit (80,000+ downloads), the AI Ideation Card Deck, the Archival Images of AI Playbook, a 1,500+ member global Slack community, and a monthly newsletter to 6,000 subscribers.
Product overview
AIxDESIGN is a non-profit community organization that operates as a platform offering research, educational resources, community events, and creative projects focused on making AI work for the rest of us. Their product portfolio centers on critical AI literacy and includes the AI Meets Design Toolkit (worksheets and exercises for designing with AI), the AI Ideation Card Deck (24 prompt cards for AI brainstorming), and the Archival Images of AI Playbook (guide for creating better AI imagery). They maintain a vibrant community Slack platform with 1,500+ members across 63 countries and publish a monthly newsletter reaching 6,000+ subscribers. Their educational offerings include workshops for organizations and universities (137 sessions, 12,000+ people reached), while their creative projects include interactive installations like Prompt Your Person, the AI Playground exploratory program, and Provotyping Towards a Feminist UX of UI (20+ speculative design prototypes). They host the annual AIxDESIGN Festival and run research initiatives like Slow AI (encompassing Small AI, Ancestral AI, and Esoteric AI), all published openly under Creative Commons. Their resources are open-access and community-driven, built on principles of radical transparency and collective inquiry.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- AI Meets Design Toolkit A comprehensive set of worksheets, prompts, and exercises including a crash course in AI/ML, opportunity-spotting prompts, alignment exercises, and UX challenges overview, designed for designers and innovators working with AI.
- AI Ideation Card Deck Physical and digital deck of 24 prompt cards across 7 categories of AI capability with 100+ example use cases for brainstorming and ideation sessions, sold as a one-time purchase.
- Archival Images of AI Playbook Hands-on toolkit and guide for remixing, reusing, and creating better images of AI using digital heritage collections, including workshop materials for creative practitioners.
- Community Newsletter Monthly newsletter with 6,000+ subscribers featuring curated links, community updates, and critical commentary on AI and design, delivered via email.
- Community Slack Platform Slack-based community workspace connecting 1,500+ practitioners, thinkers, and makers across 63 countries for collaboration, discussion, and learning about critical AI design.
- AIxDESIGN Festival Annual multi-day festival featuring talks, workshops, art exhibitions, and film screenings exploring alternative AI narratives, hosted in Amsterdam.
- Educational Workshops Paid critical AI literacy workshops for organizations and universities covering AI fundamentals, bias identification, and mindful AI integration into creative workflows.
- AI Playground Exploratory educational program applying the Anji Play philosophy to AI, featuring artist talks, hands-on workshops, and guides covering AI across image, text, sound, and body modules.
- Prompt Your Person Interactive installation and web tool enabling people to create AI-generated portraits of loved ones by writing prompts that go beyond visual descriptions, exploring bias in AI representation.
- Provotyping Towards a Feminist UX of UI Design research project using speculative design to imagine UX of AI beyond commercial conventions, informed by feminist HCI principles, producing 20+ provotypes.
- Slow AI Project Research project exploring alternative AI narratives outside Silicon Valley ideologies, encompassing Small AI, Ancestral AI, and Esoteric AI research strands.
- AIxDESIGN Cartographies Interactive ecosystem map and research project mapping the emerging field at the intersection of AI and Design, including education and career pathways, with 70 contributors from 28 countries.
Quantifiable outcome
- 80,000+ toolkit downloads
- +5 more outcomes
Companies that use AIxDesign
Customer profileNamed customers7 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
AIxDesign technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability9 records
AIxDesign partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
17 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- ANTIcorePartner in Design for Data Rights and Non-Discriminatory AI research project commissioned by UK ICO. ANTI collaborated with AIxDESIGN to run participatory workshops mapping harmful/discriminatory practices throughout the AI pipeline.
- AI4MediacoreEuropean research project under EU Horizon 2020 grant agreement No 951911. AI4Media commissioned AIxDESIGN for Better Images of Responsible AI project to create artist commissions and community open call for better visual language for AI.
- We and AI (Better Images of AI)coreCollaboration with Better Images of AI / We and AI to create and curate season of artist commissions and community open call for better visual language for AI.
- The HmmcorePartner for Prompt Your Person project. The Hmm hosted the interactive experience as part of 'Poetics of Prompting' exhibition at MU Hybrid Art House during Dutch Design Week 2024.
- Responsible Applied AI Team (RAAIT) @ Rotterdam University of Applied SciencescoreAcademic supervisor and research partner for Provotyping Towards a Feminist UX of UI project. Academic supervisor was Maaike Habers. Research support provided through participatory workshops.
- Sublab (Submarine Channel R&D)corePartner in <STORY&CODE> collaborative research-by-making program and artist residency exploring AI in animation. Sublab coordinated the sublab with 12 artists-in-residence, resulting in 6 AI animation teasers.
- Netherlands Institute for Sound & VisioncorePartner in Archival Images of AI project, providing archival materials for remixing and reuse to represent AI in more compelling ways.
- Loods6coreVenue partner for AIxDESIGN Festival 2025: On Slow AI in Amsterdam, May 1-3, 2025.
- ThunderboomcoreLead partner in Open Culture Tech initiative, collaborating with AIxDESIGN and five other partners to make immersive technology more accessible to artists.
- SuperpositionminorPartner in Open Culture Tech consortium alongside AIxDESIGN, Thunderboom, and four other organizations.
- Wij Doen DingenminorPartner in Open Culture Tech consortium alongside AIxDESIGN, Thunderboom, and four other organizations.
- Bureau Moeilijke DingenminorPartner in Open Culture Tech consortium alongside AIxDESIGN, Thunderboom, and four other organizations.
- Bedrijf de LiefdeminorPartner in Open Culture Tech consortium alongside AIxDESIGN, Thunderboom, and four other organizations.
- ChagallminorPartner in Open Culture Tech consortium alongside AIxDESIGN, Thunderboom, and four other organizations.
- Wesley HartogsminorPartner in Open Culture Tech consortium alongside AIxDESIGN, Thunderboom, and four other organizations.
- Netherlands Film AcademycorePrimary partner in AI Greenhouse two-year collaboration to research and cultivate responsible approaches to AI in filmmaking education. Part of larger AI Squared research consortium funded by Dutch Research Council.
- BenevityminorCorporate giving platform enabling employees of partner companies to donate to AIxDESIGN Foundation through workplace giving programs, doubling impact of contributions.
Scale indicators16 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
AIxDesign competitors and assessment
Company assessmentOthers
- AI NOW Institute: US-based research institute examining the social implications of artificial intelligence. Comparable in producing critical AI research and advocating for more responsible AI practices, though focused on policy research rather than design community building.
- Ada Lovelace Institute: UK-based independent research and deliberative body focused on the ethical implications of AI and data-driven technologies. Comparable as an independent voice producing commissioned research for regulators and policymakers on responsible AI.
- Center for Humane Technology: US-based non-profit researching and advocating for more humane technology design. Comparable in producing critical perspectives on AI and design ethics, though with a stronger focus on consumer technology products.
- Sublab (Submarine Channel): Dutch R&D lab exploring new forms of storytelling and media with technology. AIxDesign partnered with Sublab on the <STORY&CODE> AI animation residency, sharing a focus on creative experimentation with AI in cultural production.
Direct peers
- Better Images of AI: Project initiative creating more representative imagery of AI. AIxDesign partnered with this initiative for the Archival Images of AI project and co-curated commissions, making it a direct peer in both mission (better AI representation) and activity (artist commissions, image-making).
- We and AI: UK-based non-profit focused on critical AI literacy and public engagement with AI. AIxDesign collaborated directly with We and AI on the Better Images of AI project, sharing both mission and approach around alternative, more inclusive AI narratives.
Emerging players
- Creative AI Foundation: Community-driven organization focused on the intersection of creativity and artificial intelligence. Comparable as a community building efforts and educational resources around AI for creative practitioners.
- The Hmm: Amsterdam-based platform investigating internet culture and emerging technologies through events and installations. AIxDesign partnered with The Hmm to host Prompt Your Person during Dutch Design Week 2024, and they share a focus on cultural interrogation of AI.
- ANTI Festival: International festival of contemporary art and living culture in Kuopio, Finland. AIxDesign partnered with ANTI on the UK ICO-commissioned research on non-discriminatory AI, and they share a focus on critical, design-led engagement with technology.
Broad incumbents
- Mozilla Foundation: Global non-profit advocating for a healthier internet, including AI literacy and trustworthy AI programs (Mozilla.ai, Common Voice). Comparable as a mission-driven foundation funding and producing critical AI resources, though operating at much larger scale.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
AIxDesign social profiles
Digital presenceAIxDesign financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
AIxDesign leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles5 records
AIxDesign funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
AIxDesign M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about AIxDesign
What does AIxDesign do?
AIxDesign is a non-profit community organization that produces and distributes open educational toolkits, runs critical AI literacy workshops for organizations, hosts community events and an annual festival, and publishes research on alternative AI narratives aimed at designers and creative practitioners. Offerings include the AI Meets Design Toolkit (80,000+ downloads), the AI Ideation Card Deck, the Archival Images of AI Playbook, a 1,500+ member global Slack community, and a monthly newsletter to 6,000 subscribers.
Is AIxDesign a public or private company?
AIxDesign is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was AIxDesign founded?
AIxDesign was founded in 2019. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is AIxDesign based?
AIxDesign is headquartered in Amsterdam, Netherlands, in the Europe region.
How does AIxDesign make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Community Support / Friends Program is the primary driver. The others are resource Sales, workshop Facilitation and grants and Commissioned Research.
Who are AIxDesign's main competitors?
Others on record are AI NOW Institute, Ada Lovelace Institute, Center for Humane Technology and Sublab (Submarine Channel). Direct peers are Better Images of AI and We and AI. Emerging players are Creative AI Foundation, The Hmm and ANTI Festival. Mozilla Foundation is listed as a broad incumbent.
Does AIxDesign have an API?
No public API is recorded for AIxDesign.
What industry is AIxDesign in?
AIxDesign's product category is AI Design Education and Community Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EDAFAHAD, Simulation & Scenario-Based Learning Authoring, with a secondary code of EDAMACAG, AI & Machine Learning (Foundations & Applied). Its NAICS code is 611710 and its SIC code is 8200.