Getty images – Getty has signed a multi-year partnership with OpenAI to bring its licensed visual content into OpenAI search and ChatGPT. The move lands after years of Getty’s resistance to AI companies, including an art ban in 2022 and a lawsuit against Stability AI, and it
A shift that Getty once resisted is now landing inside the tools people use every day. Getty Images has announced a multi-year partnership with OpenAI that will bring its licensed content libraries into OpenAI search and ChatGPT results.
Getty CEO Craig Peters framed the decision around trust and usefulness. saying. “High‑quality. licensed visual content makes AI‑powered search and discovery more useful and more trustworthy.” He added. “This partnership with OpenAI reflects a shared recognition of that. and together we will deliver richer visual experiences to ChatGPT users.”.
For Getty, the partnership is a long way from where it stood not long ago. Until recently, it had taken a hard line against working with AI companies. In September 2022, Getty banned all AI-generated art from its library. A few months after that, it sued Stability AI, alleging copyright violations; that position was rejected late last year.
A year after its ban on AI-generated art, Getty pivoted toward building its own generative offering. It announced a generative AI tool trained on its library, powered by NVIDIA’s Edigy AI model. Each image produced through the tool came with a royalty-free license.
The OpenAI agreement also sits alongside Getty’s earlier partnership with Perplexity AI. In October 2025. Getty signed a deal with Perplexity AI that let the company’s AI search and discovery tools access Getty’s library. That agreement specified that “Perplexity will be making improvements to how it displays imagery. including image credit with a link to source. to better educate users on how to use licensed imagery legally.” It also came as Perplexity has faced suits over alleged illegal use of copyrighted materials.
The tension in Getty’s latest move is what hasn’t been spelled out. Getty has not shared details on whether its images will be used in AI training, and its deal with Perplexity doesn’t allow for training.
Still, the practical result is immediate for users: Getty’s licensed images will be able to appear in OpenAI search and ChatGPT. For Getty, it’s a new posture—one that trades years of open resistance for a negotiated place inside mainstream AI discovery.
Getty Images OpenAI ChatGPT AI search licensed content Perplexity AI Craig Peters NVIDIA Edigy AI model copyright Stability AI
So now my Google images are gonna be replaced by AI Getty stuff? Cool, I guess…
Wait, Getty was banning AI art like 2 years ago and now it’s in ChatGPT results? Sounds like everyone just gives up eventually. Also I’m pretty sure this means they’re training on images without saying so.
I don’t even know what “training” means here. If the images show up in search, that’s basically the same as using them, right? Like the trust thing is nice but my brain keeps going to that lawsuit… Stability AI and all that.
Getty “pivoted” and now they’re fine with it? That’s wild. I saw something about Perplexity adding image credits and links, but doesn’t that just mean they’re laundering the theft into proper citations lol. And OpenAI search is gonna look nicer now, but who knows what’s actually licensed vs scraped. Anyway, AI companies always find a way to get the content they want.