In a significant move, Apple has reportedly entered into a partnership with Shutterstock, a leading stock photos and videos library, to leverage its licensed data for training its artificial intelligence (AI) models. This strategic collaboration underscores Apple‘s commitment to developing its in-house foundation model, signalling a long-term vision for integrating native AI capabilities into its products.
According to a report by Reuters, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter, Apple has reportedly secured access to Shutterstock‘s extensive collection of pictures, videos, and music to enhance the training of its AI models. Notably, Apple is not alone in pursuing such collaborations, as Meta, Google, and Amazon have also reportedly struck similar deals to acquire relevant data for their AI projects.
Shutterstock Chief Financial Officer Jarrod Yahes reportedly revealed that the initial deal sizes with tech companies ranged from $25 million to $50 million. However, it is worth noting that most firms have since expanded the scope of these agreements, indicating a growing demand for high-quality data in AI development.
In addition to Shutterstock, Apple has also reportedly established a partnership with Seattle-based Defined.ai, an AI data firm specializing in licensing data to tech companies for AI model training. Daniela Braga, CEO of Defined.ai, reportedly shared insights into the market rates for data, stating that companies typically pay around $1 to $2 per image, $2 to $4 per short-form video, and $100 to $300 per hour of longer films. The market rate for text data, on the other hand, is reportedly approximately $0.001 per word.
These developments reportedly raise several intriguing possibilities. Firstly, Apple‘s reported inclusion of Gemini AI and Ernie Bot in the iPhone 16 series may be seen as a temporary measure until its in-house AI models are fully optimized. This suggests that even if the iPhone 16 series features outsourced AI capabilities, they could eventually be replaced once Apple officially unveils its native AI solutions.
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Furthermore, the reported collaboration with Shutterstock highlights Apple‘s focus on multimodal AI development, encompassing not only text but also images, music, and videos. While the specific applications of these models remain uncertain, it is plausible that they could enhance computer vision capabilities or even generate images and videos.
Apple Research has reportedly published two separate papers exploring the family of AI models currently under development. As the company progresses in this endeavour, it will be interesting to witness how these AI models shape the future of its products and services.
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