UMVA has learned that Getty Images, one of the world's largest photography agencies, has entered into a multi-year licensing agreement with OpenAI, marking a significant strategic pivot for the company.
The deal will see images from Getty's vast library of 609 million images surface within ChatGPT's search display, enhancing the chatbot's visual features and making AI-powered search and discovery more useful and trustworthy. However, the agreement does not allow OpenAI to use Getty's images to train its image generator, Dall-E.
Investors have responded positively to the news, with Getty Images' shares jumping as much as 65 cents, or roughly 108 per cent, to $1.26 in early afternoon trading. This surge in stock value is a rare burst of optimism for a company that has seen its shares shed more than 50 per cent of their value this year.
Craig Peters, chief executive of Getty Images, framed the deal as a vote of confidence in licensed content over the free-for-all that has defined much of the AI land grab. He emphasized that high-quality, licensed visual content is essential for making AI-powered search and discovery more useful and trustworthy.
Getty's decision to pursue licensing agreements comes after a high-profile copyright battle against another artificial intelligence developer, which ended in a setback for the company. The case highlighted the limits of existing copyright law and the challenges of protecting intellectual property in the age of AI.
The licensing deal has emerged as the industry's preferred answer to the AI question, with Getty signing a comparable agreement with Perplexity AI last November. OpenAI has also lined up deals with major publishers, and its growing commercial ambitions are increasingly visible in its advertising trials within ChatGPT and preparations for a stock market debut.
For Getty, the calculation is straightforward: if AI tools are going to reshape how people find and use images, the agency would rather be paid to be part of that future than litigate its way through it. The market reaction suggests investors, for now at least, agree with this strategy.
Sources have confirmed to UMVA that Getty is finalizing a $3.7 billion merger with its long-time rival Shutterstock, which will create a business with an unrivalled photo library and the scale to invest in its own image-generation models.
