Adobe is bringing Photoshop to the web for largely the same reason content creators do search engine optimization — the need to capture customers from the moment they are Googling how to do something.

Why it matters: Content creators have long tailored their products to search engines. Now software makers are getting in on the act.

Driving the news:

• Adobe is testing Photoshop for the web in Canada. Current paying customers outside Canada are also able to try out the browser-based photo-editing app.
• The company already has Acrobat for the web, which is used by 50 million people per month, double the rate from a year ago.

"We're able to capture users at the point of intent," Adobe executive David Wadhwani told Axios in an interview earlier this month.

Be smart: Adobe has switched from selling software licenses to a largely subscription-based model. Mobile and web apps, as "freemium" products, serve as the top of their sales funnel — the point at which potential customers enter their world and can be targeted with pitches and offers.

Another product, Adobe Express, brings together features from products like Premiere, Acrobat and Photoshop in a project format designed to appeal to a broader audience.

• It already has millions of active users, Wadhwani said: "We're aggressively taking core capabilities from our desktop apps and bringing them directly into Adobe Express."

The big picture: After transitioning its core audience of design professionals to the subscription business, Adobe says that new customers are helping fuel its recent growth.

• The result, Wadhwani said, is that Adobe added 1,500 employees last quarter and plans to continue hiring even as other tech companies have begun to cut back.

What's next: Adobe is also trying to invest in further-out opportunities, including the metaverse. For now, it's focused on how to help businesses to digitize their products in ways that can benefit sales through online try-ons and virtual photo shoots for ads.

• "We want to go where the opportunity is today," Wadhwani said.

Between the lines: In the past, the company has gone with a more experimental approach, trying out lots of different ideas. The company has rolled out a number of mobile products over the years, many of which got scrapped after they failed to gain significant traction.

• More recently, Adobe has focused on bringing its core products to new devices. In addition to the new web-based app, it made Photoshop and Lightroom available on the iPad.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) summoned a dozen Senate Democrats to his office last week with firm marching orders: Call your closest CEOs and ask them to press Republican senators on the China competition bill, Axios' Hans Nichols reports.

Why it matters: Schumer is trying to engineer an inside-outside pressure campaign to force Republicans to move faster on hammering out their differences with the House by mid-July and pass the bill, which includes major subsidies for semiconductor firms that have been on legislative hold for a year.

• Congressional Democrats and top Biden officials are getting nervous that legislation to provide approximately $50 billion to produce semiconductors domestically — as well as more than $100 billion for technology investments by the National Science Foundation — could wither on the vine.

What they're saying: "We must act urgently to pass this bill," Schumer told Axios in a statement. "Other countries around the globe have mimicked our legislation and are making major investments in innovation and chip production."

• "If we don't act quickly we could lose tens of thousands of good-paying jobs to Europe," he said.

Driving the news: Schumer huddled with some 13 Democratic conferees last Thursday to urge them to accelerate the negotiations — and get them to commit to calling 10 big-name CEOs to enlist their support in persuading Republicans.

• Schumer, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy met two weeks ago to discuss the bill. Negotiations have continued at the staff level, with policy directors meeting on Monday.
• Republicans are demanding the House essentially accept the Senate version of the bill, which they say already represents a bipartisan compromise.
• Last week, Democrats agreed to drop some of the more contentious House provisions — including the SAFE Banking Act, which would make it easier for cannabis business access to banking, and some of the more controversial climate provisions.

President Biden will ask the Federal Trade Commission to use tools at its disposal to protect consumers' data privacy in the wake of Roe v. Wade being overturned, an official familiar with the plans tells Axios' Sophia Cai.

Why it matters: In states where abortion is banned, there are growing fears those who are pregnant or miscarry may have their information harvested and used against them.

• Tech companies collect and sell vast amounts of personal information including location data. That could include when and where women are visiting clinics.
• Search engines and mobile phone apps capture data that might show who is seeking information on abortions.

What we're watching: In a letter to be sent as early as this week, Biden will say the FTC should not tolerate unfair or deceptive practices related to reporting, surveillance, sharing or sale of personal information — including sensitive health-related information — in any state, the official told Axios.

• It's part of a broader request to the FTC asking the agency to use tools at its disposal to ensure women’s privacy is protected when they seek information or disclose personal data related to reproductive health care.

Our thought bubble, via Axios' Margaret Harding McGill: The White House already encouraged the FTC to consider crafting rules on surveillance and the accumulation of troves of data as part of a wide-ranging executive order on competition last year.

• The FTC previously settled an investigation into a period-tracking app it said misled consumers about how it treated their data.

Driving the news: The Department of Health and Human Services' Office for Civil Rights today issued new guidance to help protect patients seeking reproductive health care, as well as their providers.

• It makes clear that providers are not required to disclose private medical information to third parties per federal regulation, addresses the extent to which private medical information is protected on personal cell phones and tablets, and provides tips for protecting individuals' privacy when using period trackers and other health information apps.
• Four Democratic lawmakers sent a letter to ask the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Apple and Google over their personal data collection practices and whether they could be used to target women seeking abortions.

Trading Places

• Javier Soltero is leaving his post atop Google Workspace, to be replaced by Aparna Pappu. Soltero came from Microsoft, where he rose to lead its Office business after the company acquired his startup, Accompli, which later was turned into the mobile version of Outlook.

ICYMI

• Substack is laying off 13 people, around 14% of the company, according to an internal memo. (Axios)
• Pokémon Go creator Niantic is laying off 80 people and cancelling four projects. (The Verge)
• Snapchat on Wednesday debuted a new $3.99 per month subscription product called Snapchat+. (Axios)
• In a statement to Axios, game development engine creator Unity is reportedly laying off over 200 employees, about 4% of its workforce.
• Popular NFT marketplace OpenSea alerted users to a massive email data breach last night. (TechCrunch)

There's a beer made from recycled toilet water. And no, it's not Coors Light.