Apple, Shutterstock Reportedly Agreed to Licensing Deal for AI Image Training

Apple Inc. and Shutterstock Inc. reportedly reached an agreement to use stock images to train AI. The deal will give the iPhone maker access to millions of images, videos, and even music files that it can use to train its artificial intelligence models.

According to MacRumors, Apple has sealed a deal with Shutterstock for licensing photos not long after ChatGPT was introduced in late 2022. It is believed that the companies signed a contract worth between $25 million to $50 million.

Licensing Deal for AI Image Training

With the contract, the tech firm can now freely use all of Shutterstock’s content for its AI image training. The deal makes Apple’s use of images for its AI models legal and “ethically sourced.” This means the company does not have to face any IP infringement case later as it holds a proper license to use the images and other content.

The Star further mentioned that this partnership would greatly help improve image generation and editing for iPhones and other Apple devices. This is because the AI image recognition technology will enhance the function.

Photobucket Images for Apple’s AI

It was reported that Apple is also in talks with Photobucket for a similar licensing deal. Australian Photography reported that the company’s massive image library is drawing major tech firms to it since they can use the content for their AI projects.

In fact, Photobucket is said to have already been approached by many artificial intelligence and tech companies, including Apple. They are seeking a licensing agreement to gain access to the image hosting and video hosting website’s database of 13 billion images and videos. Meanwhile, there has been no announcement yet of whether the iPhone maker succeeded in securing a deal with Photobucket.

Photo by: Medhat Dawoud/Unsplash