Getty Images and Shutterstock are joining forces in a merger valued at around $3.7 billion, the companies announced on Tuesday. The merger will allow the companies to expand their stock photo libraries as they face increasing competition from AI-powered image creation tools.
Getty Images CEO Craig Peters will remain the head of the combined companies when the merger closes, while a reworked board of directors will consist of members from both Getty Images and Shutterstock, including Shutterstock CEO Paul Hennessy. In the press release, Peters said the merger will bolster the companies by “enhancing our content offerings, expanding event coverage, and delivering new technologies to better serve our customers.”
Shutterstock will remain a separate website following the merger, Getty Images spokesperson Anne Flanagan confirmed to The Verge.
The merger comes amid the rise of text-to-image AI tools from companies like OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, and Adobe. In 2023, Getty Images responded to the trend by launching an image generator trained on its vast library of licensed photos. It rolled out a similar tool on iStock, which Getty also owns, and partnered with online image editor Picsart to create a “responsible, commercially-safe” AI image generator.
Meanwhile, Shutterstock struck an AI training deal with OpenAI, and has agreements with Meta, Google, and Amazon, according to Reuters.
The decision to combine two stock photo powerhouses may also spur antitrust scrutiny, but it’s unclear how a more merger-friendly Trump administration will respond.