Getty Images and Shutterstock are merging in a landmark $3.7 billion deal designed to strengthen their position in the rapidly evolving artificial intelligence landscape. The announcement sent both companies’ stocks soaring on Tuesday, with Getty jumping 24% and Shutterstock rising 14%, signaling strong investor confidence in the strategic combination.
The merged entity, which will retain the Getty Images name, represents a significant consolidation in the visual content industry. Under the terms of the agreement, Getty is offering approximately $28.85 in cash or 14 Getty Images shares for each Shutterstock share. The combined company expects to generate up to $200 million in cost savings over three years while unlocking new revenue opportunities through enhanced AI capabilities.
Craig Peters, Getty’s CEO, will lead the newly formed company, while Paul Hennessy, Shutterstock’s CEO, emphasized the synergistic potential of the merger. Both executives downplayed concerns about AI disruption, instead framing artificial intelligence as a major growth opportunity. “Our businesses have not seen any impact as a result of GenAI,” Peters stated, highlighting that the companies plan to integrate their products more deeply with AI technologies.
Hennessy revealed encouraging AI revenue metrics, noting that Shutterstock earned $104 million in annual revenue from AI licensing agreements in 2023, with projections reaching $250 million annually by 2027. He also pointed to increased demand: “We see increased usage in our stock content from our AI customers, and we’re seeing new customers coming into the franchise for our AI products.”
The merger comes as both companies face mounting competition from AI image-generation tools including Midjourney, Stable Diffusion, OpenAI’s DALL·E 3, and Adobe’s Firefly. Rather than retreating, both companies have invested in AI capabilities—Getty offers its own image-generation service trained on Nvidia’s Picasso, while Shutterstock-owned GIPHY partnered with TikTok for AI-powered GIF recommendations.
Wedbush analysts led by Michael Pachter praised the deal as “Bigger is better,” maintaining their outperform rating on Getty. They noted the companies are “highly complementary” with different customer bases, geographies, and platform types, and expect the merger to pass antitrust scrutiny due to intense industry competition. The combined company plans to invest heavily in content creation, event coverage, and generative AI development.
Key Quotes
Our businesses have not seen any impact as a result of GenAI
Craig Peters, Getty’s CEO who will lead the merged company, made this statement to counter concerns about AI disruption. It’s significant because it directly challenges the narrative that AI image generators are destroying the stock photo business, instead positioning AI as complementary to their core offerings.
We see increased usage in our stock content from our AI customers, and we’re seeing new customers coming into the franchise for our AI products. There’s a one plus one equals to three on that front.
Paul Hennessy, Shutterstock’s CEO, explained how AI is actually driving growth for their business. This quote is crucial because it reveals that AI companies are becoming significant customers, using stock content for training and development, while also attracting new customers to their AI-powered products.
The two companies are highly complementary, with each stock photo service serving a different niche in terms of customer size, geography, asset type, and platform type
Wedbush analysts led by Michael Pachter provided this assessment while maintaining their outperform rating on Getty. This quote matters because it explains the strategic rationale for the merger beyond just AI—the companies serve different markets and can cross-sell without significant overlap.
Our Take
This merger is a masterclass in turning potential disruption into opportunity. Rather than viewing AI image generators as existential threats, Getty and Shutterstock recognized they possess something AI companies desperately need: vast libraries of legally licensed, high-quality images for training data. The $104 million in AI licensing revenue Shutterstock generated proves this strategy works. By merging, they create a licensing powerhouse that can negotiate from strength with OpenAI, Midjourney, and others. The combined $3.7 billion entity also gains resources to develop proprietary AI tools, essentially playing both sides—licensing to AI companies while building competing products. The stock market’s enthusiastic response suggests investors see this as the right playbook for legacy content companies facing AI disruption: consolidate, license, and innovate rather than resist. This could become a template for other industries navigating the AI transition.
Why This Matters
This merger represents a critical defensive and offensive strategy in the face of generative AI disruption. Rather than being displaced by AI image generators, Getty and Shutterstock are positioning themselves as essential partners to AI companies through licensing agreements and proprietary AI tools. The deal signals a broader trend of traditional content companies adapting to AI rather than being destroyed by it.
The $104 million in AI licensing revenue Shutterstock generated in 2023, projected to reach $250 million by 2027, demonstrates that AI companies need legitimate, licensed training data—a valuable asset these stock photo giants possess. This creates a sustainable business model alongside AI tools rather than in competition with them.
For the broader business landscape, this merger illustrates how consolidation can be a survival strategy in AI-disrupted industries. By combining resources, the companies can invest more heavily in AI development, negotiate better licensing deals with AI firms, and offer more comprehensive solutions to customers who increasingly need both traditional stock content and AI-generated imagery. The market’s enthusiastic response—with both stocks surging—suggests investors believe scale and AI integration are the winning formula for visual content companies.
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Source: https://www.businessinsider.com/getty-shutterstock-merger-shares-stock-up-generative-ai-2025-1