The rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies is increasing the demand for content repositories. AI companies want to access this content to train their models. Although initially companies resorted to scraping data from the web for model training, due to legal uncertainties regarding copyright, companies now prefer to officially license content. In this context, it is noteworthy that Apple licenses millions of images from stock image sites such as Shutterstock.
According to Reuters, the value of Apple's deal with Shutterstock is likely in the range of $25-50 million, and the deal was signed in the months following the launch of ChatGPT in late 2022. It is stated that in addition to Apple, major technology companies such as Meta, Google and Amazon have made similar agreements with Shutterstock.
It was previously reported that Apple was also in talks with news publishers about licensing articles to train AI models. As content acquisition for AI becomes increasingly important, the New York Times mentions that Meta is even discussing acquiring a book publisher like Simon & Schuster.
Apple, which is seen as a bit behind in the latest developments in the field of artificial intelligence, wants to change this perception. iOS 18 is expected to be full of AI-powered features that will improve the experience of iPhone users. iOS 18 will be officially announced at WWDC 2024, and the main event will start on June 10 at 20.00 Türkiye time.
Apple marketing manager Greg Jozwiak confirmed the AI-related speculations with a tweet about the event. Jozwiak stated that WWDC will be “Absolutely Incredible.” This term is translated into English as “Absolutely Incredible” and its initials form the term “AI”.
At a time when content and data are king in the technology world, Apple's steps in the field of artificial intelligence show how much the company attaches importance to the innovations that this technology will bring. Focusing on AI-supported features that will improve user experience with iOS 18, Apple aims to have an important position in the competition in the field of artificial intelligence. These developments show that the importance of artificial intelligence technologies will continue to increase in the technology world and that investments made in this field will direct future technological innovations.