The rapidly evolving landscape of digital content creation is being transformed by new AI-powered tools that enable custom stock photo generation, with Getty Images being the latest major player to enter this space.
Key Features and Functionality: Getty Images has introduced two new AI-powered features – Product Placement and Reference Image – within its Generative AI offerings for both Getty Images and iStock platforms.
- The Product Placement feature enables users to upload product images and generate custom backgrounds that seamlessly integrate with the product
- The Reference Image tool allows users to upload existing photos as templates, maintaining consistent color palettes and composition in newly generated images
- Both features are designed to help brands maintain visual consistency while streamlining their content creation process
Business Impact and Applications: The new tools aim to address common challenges faced by brands, newsrooms, and content creators in finding or creating perfect images for their projects.
- Marketing teams can now create consistent, on-brand visuals without starting from scratch
- The system promises to reduce production time and resources traditionally required for custom photo shoots
- Businesses can maintain visual consistency across their marketing materials more efficiently
Technical Implementation and Pricing: Getty Images has structured its AI offering as a pay-per-use service with built-in legal protections.
- Plans start at $49 for 25 image generations
- Each generated image comes with automatic legal protection up to $50,000 USD
- Enterprise-level custom solutions are available for larger organizations
- The platform integrates directly with Getty’s existing stock photo infrastructure
Market Context and Competition: Getty Images isn’t alone in offering AI-powered visual content tools.
- Meta has developed similar marketing tools for advertisers that include background swapping and creative asset adaptation
- Adobe Firefly offers a free alternative with its Structure Reference option
- Various other image generators are available in the market, each specializing in different use cases
Looking Forward: While Getty Images’ entry into the AI-generated image space represents a significant development for professional content creators, the true test will be whether these tools can consistently produce results that match or exceed traditional stock photography in terms of quality and usefulness for commercial applications.
Recent Stories
DOE fusion roadmap targets 2030s commercial deployment as AI drives $9B investment
The Department of Energy has released a new roadmap targeting commercial-scale fusion power deployment by the mid-2030s, though the plan lacks specific funding commitments and relies on scientific breakthroughs that have eluded researchers for decades. The strategy emphasizes public-private partnerships and positions AI as both a research tool and motivation for developing fusion energy to meet data centers' growing electricity demands. The big picture: The DOE's roadmap aims to "deliver the public infrastructure that supports the fusion private sector scale up in the 2030s," but acknowledges it cannot commit to specific funding levels and remains subject to Congressional appropriations. Why...
Oct 17, 2025Tying it all together: Credo’s purple cables power the $4B AI data center boom
Credo, a Silicon Valley semiconductor company specializing in data center cables and chips, has seen its stock price more than double this year to $143.61, following a 245% surge in 2024. The company's signature purple cables, which cost between $300-$500 each, have become essential infrastructure for AI data centers, positioning Credo to capitalize on the trillion-dollar AI infrastructure expansion as hyperscalers like Amazon, Microsoft, and Elon Musk's xAI rapidly build out massive computing facilities. What you should know: Credo's active electrical cables (AECs) are becoming indispensable for connecting the massive GPU clusters required for AI training and inference. The company...
Oct 17, 2025Vatican launches Latin American AI network for human development
The Vatican hosted a two-day conference bringing together 50 global experts to explore how artificial intelligence can advance peace, social justice, and human development. The event launched the Latin American AI Network for Integral Human Development and established principles for ethical AI governance that prioritize human dignity over technological advancement. What you should know: The Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, the Vatican's research body for social issues, organized the "Digital Rerum Novarum" conference on October 16-17, combining academic research with practical AI applications. Participants included leading experts from MIT, Microsoft, Columbia University, the UN, and major European institutions. The conference...