The explosion of AI in 2022 coincided with the introduction of image-generating models such as Dall-E, which were met with controversy. However, in recent years, AI companies have partnered with legacy image vendors such as Getty Images and Shutterstock. On this episode of Targeting AI, Daniel Mandell of Shutterstock explains how data licensing is changing in the age of generative AI. Mandell explains how Shutterstock has evolved from a stock content company into a data licensing partner for model training, inference and increasingly agentic workflows.

We discuss how Shutterstock approaches creator compensation, how it filters synthetic data, why inference is becoming as important as training, and why high-quality rights-cleared content still matters even as image generators improve.

Featuring: Daniel Mandell, senior vice president of data licensing and AI at Shutterstock

In this episode, we cover how:

• Shutterstock’s AI business grew from image licensing into a broader multimodal data licensing model covering video, audio, 3D, fonts and templates.
• The company now serves both model training and inference use cases, with inference becoming a major part of the business.
• Demand has shifted from broad volume requests to highly specific, niche, and metadata-rich content for real-world applications.
• Mandell says Shutterstock is not trying to be a model builder, but rather a content and data partner that helps customers solve practical AI problems.
• The company sees its role as combining stock assets with AI-generated content to offer more optionality to customers.
• Compensation for creators remains an open challenge, but Shutterstock says it is trying to ensure contributors stay part of the AI ecosystem and continue to monetize their work.
• Synthetic data is useful for edge cases, but Mandell argues models still need real rights-cleared human-made data to perform well.

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References:

And Now it Begins: Shutterstock Unveils Text-to-Image AI Platform

The need for tools such as Getty Generative AI by iStock

The Perplexity-Getty Images Licensing Deal is Different