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,

Under the terms of the agreement, the combined company will retain the Getty Images name and continue trading under the NYSE ticker symbol "GETY." Craig Peters, current CEO of Getty Images, will lead the merged entity, while Shutterstock's CEO Paul Hennessy will join the eleven-member Board of Directors.

News of the merger sent Getty stock surging by nearly 60% in pre-market trading on Tuesday. The stock was selling at $2.57 a share on Monday.

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.

Getty Images is the bigger company of the two, and its shareholders will own approximately 54.7% of the new entity, while Shutterstock shareholders will own 45.3%. Getty Images also owns the iStock and Unsplash brands. The company will simply be called Getty Images.

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.

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’s acquisition of Shutterstock could influence the future of creative assets. Learn its impact on SEO, content visibility and more.