Under the terms of the agreement, the combined company will retain the Getty Images name and continue trading under the NYSE ticker symbol "GETY." Craig Peters, current CEO of Getty Images, will lead the merged entity, while Shutterstock's CEO Paul Hennessy will join the eleven-member Board of Directors.

Visual content developers and entertainment and media investors were elated when Shutterstock (NYSE: SSTK) and Getty Images (NYSE: GETY) announced that they were merging. This $3.7 billion deal will combine two of the biggest names in stock photography,

Getty Images Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:GETY) and Shutterstock, Inc. (NYSE:SSTK) shares are trading higher premarket on Tuesday after the companies entered a deal to create a visual content company in a merger of equals.

Getty Images (GETY) and Shutterstock (SSTK) to merge in a $3.7 billion deal, creating a visual content powerhouse with enhanced product offerings

The two big players in the licensed visual content will pair up to counter threats from artificial intelligence tools like Midjourney.

Getty Images announced that it would buy rival Shutterstock to create a $3.7 billion visual content company which is set to become a powerhouse in the industry.

The merger comes at a time when companies that use still images are facing increased competition from images generated by artificial intelligence.

The visual content industry is witnessing a seismic shift as Shutterstock and Getty Images, two of the biggest players in the field, announce their merger. The combined entity, valued at $3.7 billion,