The Real Reason Getty Images Is Going Bankrupt

Getty Images, one of the biggest names in photography, has announced it's filing for bankruptcy. The whole internet thinks it already knows who did it: AI. So I put on the hat, got out the murder board and investigated. One victim, five suspects, and a twist involving an oil fortune, a payphone and a grandfather who refused to pay his own grandson's ransom. Who do you think killed Getty Images? Name your suspect in the comments. SPONSORSHIPS AND COLLABORATIONS Want to work together? Email peter@ravii.io CHAPTERS 0:00 Getty Images did what? 0:19 The case 0:59 Meet the victim 1:39 Why everyone blames AI 2:24 The facts 3:26 Suspect 1: AI 6:34 Suspect 2: The loan shark 7:27 Suspect 3: The meme stock gamblers 8:56 Suspect 4: The wedding that never happened 10:56 Suspect 5: The inside job 12:53 The twist 14:43 The verdict 15:38 The victim isn't dead 16:00 What this means if you make pictures 16:31 Who do you think did it? SOURCES The bankruptcy Getty announcement: https://investors.gettyimages.com/new... Wall Street Journal: https://www.wsj.com/business/getty-im... Reuters: https://kfgo.com/2026/10/12/getty-ima... Seattle Times (S&P quote): https://www.spokesman.com/stories/202... Getty's numbers Full year 2025 results: https://newsroom.gettyimages.com/en/g... Q2 2026 results: https://www.globenewswire.com/news-re... Q2 2026 call: https://www.fool.com/earnings/call-tr... Q4 2025 call: https://www.fool.com/earnings/call-tr... Suspect 1: AI ChatGPT 700M images: https://techcrunch.com/?p=2989081 Melting GPUs: https://fortune.com/2025/03/28/sam-al... Nano Banana 50B images: https://blog.google/innovation-and-ai... Midjourney plans: https://docs.midjourney.com/hc/en-us/... CMA final report: https://assets.publishing.service.gov... Getty v Stability AI, US complaint: https://storage.courtlistener.com/rec... The $1.8 trillion headline: https://petapixel.com/2023/02/07/gett... UK ruling: https://malaymail.com/news/world/2025... Getty and OpenAI deal: https://www.forbes.com.au/news/invest... Suspects 2 to 4 Carlyle buyout, 2012: https://m.washingtontimes.com/news/20... SPAC redemptions: https://www.benzinga.com/general/ente... Warrant appeal: https://news.bloomberglaw.com/litigat... Merger announcement: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/da... CMA, Getty abandons merger: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ge... Suspect 5 and the twist Free embeds, 2014: https://www.csmonitor.com/Technology/... Unsplash: https://newsroom.gettyimages.com/en/g... Carol Highsmith lawsuit: https://www.geekwire.com/2016/photogr... J. Paul Getty (Fortune): https://fortune.com/article/the-odd-m... The kidnapping (Time): https://time.com/5068192/getty-kidnap... Mark Getty quote: https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mark_Getty PHOTOS J. Paul Getty, c.1944: Los Angeles Daily News / UCLA Library, CC BY 4.0 Sam Altman: Steve Jurvetson, CC BY 2.0 Sutton Place, Surrey: Frederic Harrison, Annals of an Old Manor House, public domain Payphone (illustrative, not Getty's actual phone): Doug Coldwell, CC BY-SA 3.0 Maps: Natural Earth Company figures are the companies' own claims, and anything labelled "my rough maths" is mine. I'm not a lawyer or a financial adviser, and this isn't legal or financial advice. The opening scene was made with AI. I use Claude to help research this show, and this video was edited in DaVinci Resolve. #GettyImages #Photography #Filmmaking