Getty Images, once a fierce critic of how AI companies use creative content without permission, has struck a licensing deal with OpenAI to integrate its professionally licensed photos and visual assets into ChatGPT's search and discovery experiences. The partnership signals a broader industry shift, with rights holders and AI companies increasingly turning to formal licensing agreements rather than legal confrontations. For Getty, it's a new distribution channel and a vindication of its licensed-content stance; for OpenAI, it means access to one of the largest professional image libraries in the world.