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.

The giant commercial photo and video providers are grappling with the emergence of artificial intelligence tools that have flooded the internet with AI-created images.

Getty Images (GETY) announced on Tuesday that it will merge with its rival, Shutterstock (SSTK), to create a single, premier visual content company worth

This news was welcomed by investors of both companies, with GETY stock rising 25% and SSTK stock rising 14% on Tuesday, January 7.

Getty Images and Shutterstock have announced that they are to merge, forming a new $US3.7 billion ($AU 5.94 billion) company to be named Getty Images Holdings.

Analyst Youssef Squali of Truist Financial maintained a Buy rating on Shutterstock (SSTK – Research Report), retaining the price target of

Getty Images and Shutterstock will merge into one company valued at $3.7 billion in a deal that aims to take on competition from AI, the companies announced on Tuesday. The new premier visual content company will be called Getty Images Holdings, Inc. and at close, Getty Images’s CEO, Craig Peters, will serve as CEO of the combined company.

Two giants of the stock image industry, Getty Images and Shutterstock, are merging to create a $3.7 billion powerhouse built for the age of artificial intelligence. According to a report by Reuters on Tuesday,

Getty Images and Shutterstock agreed to a merger, creating a more formidable competitor for Adobe as generative AI shifts the landscape.

Getty Images already works with more than half a million content creators around the globe and serves customers in nearly every country. The outlet, which also

Shares of both companies surged on the news, with Shutterstock advancing 19% to $35.80 and Getty rising 25% to $3.22, on track for its biggest percentage increase in nearly two years. Getty was founded in 1995 by Chairman Mark Getty and has traded publicly since 2021 after a merger with a blank-check firm.