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Getty Images Warns UK Operations Could Shrink if CMA Blocks Shutterstock Merger

By  |  December 2, 2025

Getty Images has signaled it could scale back its presence in the United Kingdom if regulators move to halt its proposed acquisition of Shutterstock, according to Financial Times. Chief executive Craig Peters argued that the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority is underestimating the rapid transformation of the visual content industry brought on by artificial intelligence.

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    The two US-listed photo agencies together would form a business valued at about $3.7bn, per Financial Times. But UK regulators escalated the review of the merger to a deeper Phase 2 investigation this month, citing concerns that the tie-up could sharply reduce competition for licensing stock photos and videos.

    Peters warned that the scrutiny comes with financial consequences, saying the process would cost the companies more than $50mn. “It’s a really expensive appeal for . . . a very small portion of businesses in the UK,” he said. He cautioned that if the CMA ultimately blocks the deal, “there’s parts of these businesses that probably don’t continue to invest in the UK. There are pieces of this business that potentially exit [and] ultimately investments that aren’t going to be made.”

    Competition analysts at the CMA previously concluded that Getty Images and Shutterstock are each other’s closest rivals, with Adobe Stock and PA Media/Alamy also significant players. Canva’s influence on the licensing market was less clear, the regulator noted during its initial review.

    Peters countered that AI-driven disruption has reshaped the landscape far beyond traditional stock agencies, according to Financial Times. He described Shutterstock’s licensing revenues as declining amid a surge in generative platforms and framed the merger as a way to combine scale and compete more effectively. “We can’t go buy a Google. We can’t go buy an OpenAI. And so we need to compete in a different way,” he said.

    Read more: Getty Images Partly Loses UK Copyright Case Against Stability AI

    The CMA, however, said it has not yet seen evidence demonstrating that AI-generated imagery will replace professionally produced stock content for a large share of customers in the near term. The regulator said it had received “widespread potential concerns about this deal — particularly around its impact on UK news outlets and advertisers . . . We also heard arguments around the evolving impact of AI in this market. It is right that we investigate further to understand whether businesses here in the UK could face higher subscription costs or get a worse service.”

    Getty Images has been battling major AI companies over the use of its copyrighted library, including lawsuits against Stability AI in the US and UK. Peters insisted the technology’s acceleration is already reshaping business realities. “Ignoring technology like AI is something that I can’t get my head wrapped around — saying that it’s three to five years out? Really? The fastest adoption of technology in the history of human beings . . . and yet it’s three years out?”

    According to Financial Times, Peters maintains the merger would ultimately strengthen market competition and support future growth. Getty, which documents more than 160,000 news, sports, and entertainment events and holds a vast historic photo archive, is also developing its own AI tools trained on its licensed content.

    Source: Financial Times