Getty Images, the well-known provider of stock photos, has found itself embroiled in a legal battle with Stability AI, a company accused of misusing over 12 million Getty photos to train its own AI photo-generation tool. However, Getty Images is now fighting back by releasing its own AI photo-generation tool called Generative AI by Getty Images.
The tool, which is primarily designed for commercial use, will be paywalled on the Getty.com website, and Getty customers will also have the option to integrate it into other applications through an API. Unlike traditional stock photos, Generative AI focuses on providing users with generic images rather than specific ones. This puts Getty Images in direct competition with industry giants like Shutterstock and Adobe.
Generative AI has been trained on a massive database of hundreds of millions of Getty Images, utilizing Nvidia’s cutting-edge model architecture called Edify. Getty Images CEO Craig Peters has emphasized the company’s partnership with Nvidia, which has provided them with unlimited GPUs for training the tool.
However, concerns have been raised regarding the ethics of training an AI model on photographers’ images and how those photographers will be compensated. In response, Getty Images has assured the public that they have legal rights cleared for the photos used to train their AI tool, making it the only offering in the market that is fully indemnified.
Those using Generative AI will have the advantage of perpetual, worldwide, nonexclusive use of the images it generates. Additionally, new content created by the AI will not be added to Getty Images’ existing content libraries, ensuring exclusivity for customers.
This move by Getty Images marks a significant step in the competitive landscape of AI-generated images. The company is determined to assert its dominance in this rapidly growing field and fend off competition from rivals like Shutterstock and Adobe. Only time will tell how Generative AI will shape the future of stock photography and whether it will ultimately be embraced by the industry or face further ethical scrutiny.
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