Apple has reportedly struck a deal with Shutterstock, a stock image site, to license millions of images for AI training. The value of the deal is estimated to be in the $25-50 million range and was signed in the months following the release of ChatGPT in late 2022. This development indicates a shift in the AI industry, with companies moving away from scraping data from the web due to copyright concerns and instead formally licensing content.
Several other tech giants, including Meta, Google, and Amazon, have also made similar deals with Shutterstock. Apple was previously reported to be in talks with news publishers about licensing their articles to train its AI models. The New York Times even claimed that Meta had considered buying out a book publisher like Simon & Schuster for the same purpose.
This deal is part of Apple’s efforts to catch up in the AI race. The company is expected to heavily feature AI-powered enhancements in iOS 18 to improve the user experience for iPhone users. The new iOS version will be officially announced at WWDC, with the keynote kicking off on June 10. Apple marketing executive Greg Jozwiak has already confirmed the AI speculation in a tweet about the event, stating that WWDC will be “Absolutely Incredible.”
Read more at: 9to5mac.com