Visual marketplace giant Getty Images has launched a generative AI image tool it says is commercially safe.

The tool pairs the company’s premiere creative content with the latest AI technology, in an offering it says allows customers to elevate their entire creative process to find the right visual content for any need while providing them with protection.

“We’re excited to launch a tool that harnesses the power of generative AI to address our customers’ commercial needs while respecting the intellectual property of creators,” Getty Images CEO Craig Peters says.

“We’ve worked hard to develop a responsible tool that gives customers confidence in visuals produced by generative AI for commercial purposes.”

Commercial responsibility in the AI space is a key concern of the visual media company that boasts an image library of over 470 million assets. Earlier this year Getty filed a lawsuit against London-based Stability AI, alleging it had copied without permission more than 12 million photographs from its collection, along with captions and metadata.

Getty was seeking damages of up to US$150,000 for each infringed work, a sum that could add up to US$1.8 trillion, according to Associated Press.

Ethical questions surround the commercial use of AI and its potential for job displacement and privacy disruptions.

Getty Images launches AI image generator 

Now, the company says it has listened to customers about the swift growth of generative AI and have responded with the tool. 

“We’ve created a service that allows brands and marketers to safely embrace AI and stretch their creative possibilities, while compensating creators for inclusion of their visuals in the underlying training sets,” chief product officer at Getty Images Grant Farhall says.

Customers creating and downloading visuals through the tool will receive Getty Images’ standard royalty-free licence which includes warranties and the right to perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive use in all media. Content generated through the tool will not be added into existing Getty Images and iStock content libraries for others to license.

In addition, contributors will be compensated for any inclusion of their content in the training set.

The tool can be enabled on Getty’s website or integrated into apps and websites through API software. And later this year, new features will enable Getty Images users to customise the AI tool with proprietary data to produce images with its unique brand style and language.

Getty Images was founded in 1995 by Mark Getty and Jonathan Klein. It is now home to the largest privately owned archive in the world, making it a valuable historical resource.