Perplexity strikes multi-year licensing deal with Getty Images | TechCrunch | Goose Pod

Authors: Rebecca Bellan

Publisher:

TechCrunch

Published: 10/31/2025

Language:English

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Tom Banks

Good morning, bxyfighting@gmail.com, I'm Tom Banks, and this is Goose Pod for you. Today is Tuesday, November 4th, 2025, at 3:47 PM.

Mask

And I'm Mask! We're here to dive deep into some fascinating news: Perplexity has struck a multi-year licensing deal with Getty Images. This is a game-changer, considering their past, wouldn't you agree?

Tom Banks

Absolutely, Mask. This multi-year licensing deal between AI search startup Perplexity and Getty Images is a significant step, granting Perplexity permission to display Getty's vast image library across its AI-powered search tools. It’s a remarkable pivot for Perplexity, especially given the allegations of content scraping they've faced.

Mask

A pivot indeed, Tom. This isn't just some handshake deal, this is a multi-year agreement, a clear move towards formal content partnerships. Perplexity is integrating Getty's API technology, ensuring proper image credits and links back to the source. It’s about legitimizing their visual storytelling.

Tom Banks

That emphasis on attribution and accuracy is fundamental, isn't it? Jessica Chan from Perplexity highlighted how crucial it is for people to understand where content comes from in this age of AI. It gives users a sense of trust, knowing the origin of the powerful visuals they're seeing.

Mask

Precisely. And let's not forget the market's reaction. Shares of Getty Images soared 50% in early trading following this announcement! That's not just a deal; it's a validation of a new business model, showing immense investor confidence in AI licensing as a scalable revenue stream for rights holders.

Tom Banks

It's quite the journey when you look at the background, Mask. Perplexity has been embroiled in numerous copyright lawsuits from major publishers like Japan's Nikkei and Asahi Shimbun. This deal really shows a shift from those content acquisition controversies, doesn't it?

Mask

It does, Tom. They’ve been proactive, introducing a revenue-sharing model and partnering with big names like TIME and Der Spiegel. This Getty deal isn't just an isolated event; it's part of a broader strategy to legitimize their content sourcing, moving away from the 'wild west' of unlicensed scraping.

Tom Banks

And Getty's role here is equally fascinating. They've also been on a journey, from suing Stability AI over image scraping to now actively licensing their content for AI use. It's a clear evolution from adversarial disputes to collaborative AI integration, which is a powerful message for the industry.

Mask

Absolutely. This partnership uses API technology to ensure legal compliance and user education, directly addressing regulatory and creator concerns. It's a blueprint for visual content platforms to tap into AI's growth while maintaining control over usage terms, a pragmatic step given the scrutiny AI firms face.

Tom Banks

It's like a turning point, where AI companies realize the long-term value of ethical partnerships. The initial thought was that licensing might not work for all internet content due to the sheer volume, but deals like this demonstrate a pathway for high-quality, curated content.

Mask

Indeed. And let's not overlook Perplexity's staggering growth, Tom. They're on the verge of a nine billion dollar valuation, up from five hundred and twenty million at the start of the year. They handled three hundred and fifty million queries just last September alone. This deal fuels that engine, providing crucial, licensed visual content.

Tom Banks

However, this deal comes against a backdrop of significant conflict, Mask. Perplexity has been facing a barrage of allegations, with publishers like Britannica, Forbes, and WIRED criticizing their alleged unauthorized use of content. Britannica even accused them of 'free riding' and cannibalizing traffic.

Mask

It's a battleground, Tom. These publishers argue that Perplexity's 'answer engine' directly summarizes their content, diverting valuable traffic. It's the classic innovator's dilemma: disrupt or be disrupted. Perplexity's approach has been aggressive, and that naturally draws fire from established players.

Tom Banks

But the accusations go beyond just traffic, including alleged trademark violations due to AI-generated 'hallucinations' attributed to trusted brands. And the claims of using 'stealth' crawlers and copying articles verbatim, even from paywalled content, are serious legal challenges.

Mask

Serious, yes, but also a testament to the intensity of the competition. Reddit even sued Perplexity for 'industrial-scale, unlawful' scraping. It highlights the tension between open access to information for AI training and the rights of content creators. This Getty deal is Perplexity's move to navigate that tension strategically.

Tom Banks

The impact of these legal battles, as seen with Getty's lawsuit against Stability AI, is incredibly costly. Getty's CEO stated they've spent millions on a single case. It underscores the immense challenges and expenses involved in fighting AI copyright infringement, particularly due to the speed and volume of AI generation.

Mask

That's the harsh reality, Tom. AI platforms are absorbing revenue that would traditionally go to content creators. The economic imbalance is stark: creators bear the costs of production, while AI platforms capture the value. This deal with Getty, however, provides a path to redress that imbalance through direct licensing.

Tom Banks

It's a step towards a more equitable system, then. If AI firms pay content creators for their material, through aggregators or licensing agencies, it could create a sustainable ecosystem. Some content platforms are already offering paid APIs for AI companies, setting a precedent.

Mask

Looking ahead, Tom, Perplexity is already pioneering a profit-sharing model for content licensing. Eighty percent of their subscription revenue is earmarked for publishers in their program, distributed based on factors including direct visits. It’s a clear signal of where the industry is heading.

Tom Banks

That's a significant development, Mask. If courts continue to side with publishers in these legal battles, content licensing could become a mandatory cost for AI companies. This could be challenging for smaller players, but it also establishes clearer legal expectations.

Mask

Indeed. And initiatives like the 'RSL' standard, aiming to establish machine-readable licensing terms for AI crawlers, show a collective effort to solve this. It's about getting AI companies to pay for the content they scrape, creating a structured ecosystem for data licensing and moving towards harmonized global standards.

Tom Banks

This Perplexity-Getty deal truly is a landmark, highlighting the evolving landscape of AI ethics, copyright, and fair use. It’s a story with high virality potential, prompting vital discussions.

Mask

A crucial conversation for our age, Tom. That's the end of today's discussion. Thank you for listening to Goose Pod, bxyfighting@gmail.com. We'll catch you next time!

Perplexity has secured a multi-year licensing deal with Getty Images, allowing it to legally display Getty's vast image library in its AI search tools. This strategic pivot addresses past content scraping allegations and marks a significant step towards legitimizing Perplexity's visual content sourcing, moving from controversy to collaboration.

Perplexity strikes multi-year licensing deal with Getty Images | TechCrunch

Read original at TechCrunch →

AI search startup Perplexity has signed a multi-year licensing deal with Getty Images, which gives it permission to display images from Getty across its AI-powered search and discovery tools. The deal marks a notable shift for the company, which has been hit by allegations of content scraping and plagiarism, and signals an effort to establish more formal content partnerships.

Perplexity and Getty have been working together for more than a year, a source familiar with the deal told TechCrunch. Though it was never announced, Getty was part of Perplexity’s Publishers’ Program, a plan to share ad revenue with publishers when their content surfaced in a search query, the source said.

Today’s agreement is a new deal. A source told TechCrunch it’s not a traditional lump sum licensing deal, since Perplexity doesn’t train its own foundational models, but would not elaborate on the terms. Perplexity’s agreement with Getty appears to legitimize some of the startup’s previous use of Getty’s stock photos.

Perplexity has come under fire within the last year for a series of plagiarism accusations from several news organizations. In one case, the startup was called out for pulling content from a Wall Street Journal article, including the Getty photo in that piece. At the time, several outlets questioned whether Perplexity’s use of the images constituted copyright infringement.

A source last year told TechCrunch that Perplexity was working on an agreement with Getty, but we were unable to confirm the deal after reaching out to the stock image giant several times. More recently, Reddit sued Perplexity in October, alleging “industrial-scale, unlawful” scraping of user content and circumventing technical measures to access data.

Reddit has a data licensing agreement with OpenAI. Perplexity says its Getty deal will help it better display images and include credits with links back to the original source whenever images show up in search results. Nick Unsworth, vice president of strategic development at Getty, said the agreement “acknowledges the importance of properly attributed consent and its value in enhancing AI-powered products.

” “Attribution and accuracy are fundamental to how people should understand the world in an age of AI,” Jessica Chan, head of content and publisher partnerships at Perplexity, said in a statement. “Together, we’re helping people discover answers through powerful visual storytelling while ensuring they always know where that content comes from and who created it.

” Perplexity’s emphasis on attribution is part of its strategy of defending against copyright accusations by arguing its use of publisher content — including content behind a paywall or that publishers have explicitly indicated they don’t want scraped — constitutes “fair use” because publicly available facts are not copyrightable.

Rebecca Bellan is a senior reporter at TechCrunch where she covers the business, policy, and emerging trends shaping artificial intelligence. Her work has also appeared in Forbes, Bloomberg, The Atlantic, The Daily Beast, and other publications. You can contact or verify outreach from Rebecca by emailing rebecca.

bellan@techcrunch.com or via encrypted message at rebeccabellan.491 on Signal. View Bio