US visual media firm Getty Images launched an AI image-generating tool for hundreds of thousands of users, with over 135 million copyrighted photos. The business move comes amid a worldwide discussion about AI intellectual property rights.
Users of the recently released Getty Images AI tool can generate graphics in response to given instructions. Additionally, Getty Images intends to regularly pay rewards to the artists who helped train its AI system. Craig Peters, CEO of Getty Images, noted that even though the first payments to artists may be modest, the market for generative AI service is anticipated to expand and ultimately result in "material revenue streams," per ARS Technica.
Getty launched its AI solution after OpenAI updated DALL-E, its image-generating technology.
Microsoft has recently pledged to provide indemnity coverage for future copyright claims resulting from its AI CoPilot services, which include generative AI in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint products.
Copyright Conflicts
The use of AI art tools from companies like OpenAI, Midjourney, and Stability AI has sparked a discussion over intellectual property rights in the AI era. Earlier this year, Getty Images brought a copyright lawsuit in the UK High Court against Stability AI, a program developer for creating commercial photos, claiming the unauthorized processing and copying of millions of copyrighted photographs.
Introducing Generative AI by Getty Images – a new tool that pairs our best-in-class creative content with the latest AI technology for a commercially safe generative AI tool! Trained on Getty Images’ world-class creative content, the tool works seamlessly with our expansive… pic.twitter.com/qSG9CG2CFh
— Getty Images (@GettyImages) September 25, 2023
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Getty Images has made a huge commitment to provide unlimited indemnity to safeguard its more than 800,000 customers. That implies the firm will handle any copyright conflicts for its commercial clients legally and financially.
For each work that was infringed upon, Getty might seek damages of up to $150,000 in the complaint, which could reach $1.8 trillion, according to AP News. Stability AI has not formally responded to the allegations, resulting in ongoing legal disputes in the United States and the United Kingdom. Stability AI is attempting to dismiss or transfer the lawsuit.
No Deepfake Images
Getty Images' new Generative AI service results from years of cooperation with Californian tech giant Nvidia. It guarantees commercial usage indemnification using Nvidia's Edify AI technology. This strategy tries to overcome the issues with intellectual property that have prevented companies from using generative AI techniques.
Brands seeking marketing materials and innovative photography are the main customers anticipated to gain from Getty Images' generative AI. This puts Getty Images in direct rivalry with companies like Shutterstock, which collaborated with DALL-E from OpenAI, and Adobe, which created Firefly, its own AI image generator. Notably, editorial or photojournalistic material is not the intended use of generative AI.
In order to avoid the creation of damaging "deepfake" photographs, Getty Images has taken action by setting the AI model to reject requests involving famous brands or people automatically. When asked to create a picture of "President Joe Biden on a surfboard," for example, the program declined the request, per Fortune.
Notably, AI-generated material will not be included in Getty Images' current content libraries, which will continue to showcase "real people doing real things in real places."
Related Article: Microsoft to Integrate OpenAI's Dall-E 3 Into Bing Search Engine
