SSTK News & Events

Shutterstock announced that it is "accelerating the future of generative AI" with an expansion of its training datasets. "This expansion provides developers, researchers, and enterprise partners with unprecedented access to multimodal data high-quality licensed content for the full model training lifecycle, marking the next phase in Shutterstock's rapidly growing data licensing business," the company said in a statement. Shutterstock adds that its expanded data catalog now features assets from templates and fonts to long-form video, premium metadata, and specialized podcast and science imagery. "This expansion reflects the accelerating demand for high-quality training data as generative AI development reaches critical mass globally," it said.

Getty Images (GETY) and Shutterstock (SSTK) announced that the United States Department of Justice has concluded its review of the companies' proposed merger of equals and the applicable waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act has expired, without conditions. The merger transaction is expected to deliver substantial synergies across SG&A and CAPEX following close . Prior to the DOJ's decision, in the United Kingdom, the Competition and Markets Authority issued its interim report on February 19 as part of the ongoing Phase 2 review. Getty Images and Shutterstock are actively engaged with the CMA ahead of the CMA's final decision due by April 19, to further the CMA's understanding of the Editorial market and how the merger enhances the combined company's ability to serve customers, contributors, and partners in a highly competitive marketplace. Based on the merits of the transaction and market realities, Getty Images and Shutterstock remain hopeful that the CMA will reach a conclusion consistent with the DOJ and other regulators around the globe.

Shutterstock issued a statement on the UK Competition and Markets Authority's, or CMA, provisional decision: "We are pleased to see the CMA's progress with respect to the proposed merger between Shutterstock and Getty Images, particularly its provisional finding that the merger is not expected to result in competition issues in the global Stock content market. We are disappointed and disagree with the CMA's provisional finding that the merger may result in a 'substantial lessening of competition' in the UK Editorial market. We do not believe the analysis or interim conclusions reflect the composition of the UK market, the level of regional competition within it or the alternatives available to customers. We will continue to engage constructively with the CMA and expect to file our response to the CMA's interim report in line with the CMA's timeline. We also continue to work cooperatively with the U.S. Department of Justice as its review progresses."