Getty Images And Shutterstock Are Merging Into One Stock Photo Powerhouse

Getty Images and Shutterstock are joining forces successful a merger weighted astatine astir $3.7 billion, nan companies announced connected Tuesday. The merger will fto nan companies to turn their banal photograph libraries arsenic they look expanding title from AI-powered image creation tools.

Getty Images CEO Craig Peters will enactment nan caput of nan mixed companies erstwhile nan merger closes, while a reworked committee of committee will dwell of members from immoderate Getty Images and Shutterstock, including Shutterstock CEO Paul Hennessy. In nan spot release, Peters said nan merger will bolster nan companies by “enhancing our contented offerings, expanding arena coverage, and delivering caller technologies to amended work our customers.”

Shutterstock will enactment a abstracted website pursuing nan merger, Getty Images spokesperson Anne Flanagan confirmed to The Verge.

The merger comes amid nan emergence of text-to-image AI devices from companies for illustration OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, and Adobe. In 2023, Getty Images responded to nan inclination by launching an image generator trained connected its immense room of licensed photos. It rolled retired a akin instrumentality connected iStock, which Getty too owns, and collaborated pinch online image editor Picsart to create a “responsible, commercially-safe” AI image generator.

Meanwhile, Shutterstock struck an AI training woody pinch OpenAI, and has agreements pinch Meta, Google, and Amazon, according to Reuters.

The determination to harvester 2 banal photograph powerhouses whitethorn too spur antitrust scrutiny, but it’s unclear really a overmuch merger-friendly Trump management will respond.