Artificial intelligence has caused an earthquake in the image bank market. More and more professionals and media use AI-generated images, which ChatGPT, Grok and others offer for free. Getty Images and Shutterstock announce their merger to survive the threat of artificial intelligence.
Image banks like Getty Images and Shutterstock sell photographs, illustrations and other content, and pay a commission to the authors of the photos. But Generative AI has broken this business modelbecause now anyone can generate their own images, with a professional finish.
The solution is to integrate artificial intelligence tools into your catalog, at the cost of harming photographers and illustrators. Even so, it is a profound change, which requires a large investment, which is why Getty Images and Shutterstock have decided to merge.
Shutterstock disappears forever
This is not a 50/50 merger, as Getty’s shares were worth more. The new company, which will be called Getty Images Holdings, is formed for 54.7% of Getty Images shares, and 45.3% of Shutterstock shares. It will be worth 3.7 billion dollars.
Getty Images’ current CEO, Craig Peters, will be CEO of the new merged company. At the board table will be Craig Peters, six executives from Getty and four from Shutterstock, including its current CEO, Paul Hennessy.
The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the combined company will be Mark Getty, current President of Getty Images.
“With the rapid increase in demand for visual content, there has never been a better time for our two companies to come together. By combining our complementary strengths, we can better address client opportunities,” says Craig Peters, CEO of Getty Images , in the statement.
“We expect the merger to deliver value for customers and shareholders of both companies by capitalizing on attractive growth opportunities to drive combined revenue, accelerate product innovation, realize significant cost synergies and improve cash flow,” added Paul Hennessy, CEO of Shutterstock.
Getty Images and Shutterstock merger pending antitrust reviewsince they are the two largest companies in the sector. Together they will try to resist the threats of artificial intelligence, integrating it into their offer. Clients of both companies can now generate photos with their own AI, or modify existing ones in their image and illustration bank.
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Tags: Photography, Design, Web design
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