Getty Images’ stock jumped nearly 150% in premarket trading after the company announced a multi-year partnership with OpenAI to display Getty-licensed images in OpenAI search results and within ChatGPT.
By the time the market opened for the day, Getty Images’ rebound was already visible on screens. Shares in Getty Images Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: GETY) were up nearly 150% in premarket trading as of the time of this writing, after the company announced an unexpected partnership with OpenAI.
The announcement landed on Sunday. Getty said it has entered into a partnership with OpenAI that will bring images from Getty’s licensed content libraries into OpenAI search results and “discovery experiences within ChatGPT.” In plain terms. when users ask ChatGPT questions. its replies may include a Getty-licensed photograph or image to illustrate the topic.
Getty CEO Craig Peters put the business logic in familiar language—he linked the value of licensed visuals to the usefulness of AI-driven search and discovery. “High‑quality. licensed visual content makes AI‑powered search and discovery more useful and more trustworthy. ” Peters said in a statement. “This partnership with OpenAI reflects a shared recognition of that. and together we will deliver richer visual experiences to ChatGPT users.” Getty did not disclose financial details. but described the arrangement as a “multi‑year agreement.”.
The headline number—an about-face in the stock’s mood—comes with a crucial detail that can be easy to miss: Getty’s deal is about display. not training. Getty is one of the two most prominent editorial and stock image companies in the world. with the other major player being Shutterstock. Getty has long guarded its image library. That context makes the partnership feel counterintuitive for some investors. especially after the company took AI firms to court over content licensing.
In 2023, Getty filed a lawsuit against Stability AI, alleging copyright infringement by training AI models on Getty’s images. In November 2025, Getty largely lost the suit.
Still, the OpenAI partnership does not give OpenAI access to train its model on Getty images that appear in OpenAI search results and chatbot results. The agreement is limited to the display of relevant Getty images, a Getty spokesperson confirmed to Fast Company.
That distinction lands hard for the market because it touches the core fear that has weighed on the company since generative AI surged. Getty Images originally went public in 1996 before being taken private by a private equity firm 12 years later. It returned to public markets in 2022 on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) via a special purpose acquisition company. or SPAC. While the stock briefly popped post-IPO. Getty’s timing coincided with generative image AI tools taking off—an environment that led many investors to question whether the company’s business model faced an existential threat.
The selloff since then has been dramatic. Getty shares fell sharply from a post-IPO high above $30 per share in August 2022. By September 2022, GETY shares were trading below $10 apiece, and they continued to decline. Over the past 12 months, GETY shares have cratered more than 66% as of Thursday’s closing price of 60 cents. Year-to-date, the stock was down nearly 55%.
Then came the OpenAI announcement yesterday, followed by the trading surge today. As of the time of this writing, GETY shares were up more than 149% to $1.59 per share in premarket trading. That’s the highest price the company’s shares have seen since last November and it places Getty stock back in the green for the calendar year.
There’s a reason the rebound matters—and a reason it may not last by default. Getty has spent years battling the idea that AI can replace licensed images with synthetic alternatives. Today’s price action suggests investors are willing to bet that licensed distribution through major AI platforms can be a way forward. Whether the rally can hold for the rest of 2026 remains uncertain.
Getty Images OpenAI ChatGPT AI partnership stock market NYSE: GETY Craig Peters licensed content search and discovery Stability AI multi-year agreement
So they’re just gonna show pics in ChatGPT now? Wild.
I don’t get how the stock can jump 150% if they’re just “displaying” images. Like… isn’t that still basically letting AI use the stuff anyway? Feels like they’re gonna get paid somehow but the details are always missing.
Wait, so Getty sued Stability AI in 2023 and now they’re partnering with OpenAI?? That makes no sense. I heard “training” was the problem, but they didn’t say anything about training here so maybe it’s actually fine for them. Either way, OpenAI’s gonna end up scraping everything sooner or later.
This is why I never trust headlines. “Partnership shock” sounds scary but it’s probably just ads for Getty stock photo subscriptions. Also, if it’s not training then why does it matter? My cousin said AI already has every photo anyway, so… yeah. Meanwhile Shutterstock probably mad as hell.