Getty Images files for bankruptcy as AI imagery bites: "20 years of watermarks"

"getty spent 20 years slapping watermarks on everything and now it wants sympathy over AI. nah." That reply to Polymarket's post on Getty Images' bankruptcy filing (7,000 likes) drew 797 likes.

Per Reuters on Oct 21, Getty Images filed for Chapter 11 in the US Bankruptcy Court in Delaware. Reuters said the company had struggled with heavy debt and growing competition from AI-generated imagery after its planned merger with Shutterstock collapsed.

After the restructuring, the Getty family and Koch Equity Development, which committed up to $533 million in new equity, will own 100% of the company. Existing shares will be canceled and Getty will go private. The filing lists both assets and liabilities at $1 billion to $10 billion.

The failed merger mattered too. Getty announced a roughly $3.7 billion deal with Shutterstock in January last year but dropped it in July after the UK's Competition and Markets Authority raised concerns. Getty expects to finish the restructuring by year-end and says employees, contributors and customers won't be affected.