Getty, Adobe, and the Training-Data Fight

Generative image AI was trained on the internet's pictures, and when the money started flowing, who owned those pictures became one of the most contested fights in the industry. Getty Images, whose whole business rests on licensing professional photography, alleged its images had trained models like Stable Diffusion without permission and sued Stability AI in the US and UK, with mixed results, including a UK High Court ruling in late 2025 that rejected its central copyright claims. Adobe, meanwhile, went a completely different direction with Firefly.

This case sharpens a strategic choice every company building on others' assets eventually faces: defend the existing business in court, or build a new one on rights you actually control. One is reactive; the other can be a moat. Open the app to map where your own product depends on inputs you do not own, and what changing rules would cost you.