Getty Images Defends Copyright Lawsuit Against Stability AI, Says It Won’t Harm AI Industry

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Getty Images’ landmark UK copyright lawsuit against Stability AI kicked off at London’s High Court on Monday, with Getty firmly rejecting Stability AI’s claim that the case threatens the broader generative AI sector.

The Seattle-based visual content company alleges that Stability AI unlawfully scraped millions of Getty’s images to train its Stable Diffusion system, which generates images from text prompts. Getty has also filed a parallel lawsuit against Stability AI in the United States.

Stability AI, backed by hundreds of millions in funding and a recent investment from advertising giant WPP, denies infringing Getty’s rights. A spokesperson emphasized that the case concerns “technological innovation and freedom of ideas,” arguing that their tools enable artists to build on collective human knowledge—a core aspect of fair use and freedom of expression.

However, Stability AI’s lawyer described Getty’s lawsuit as “an overt threat” to both Stability AI’s business and the wider AI industry.

Getty’s legal team countered that their case centers on protecting intellectual property, not hindering AI development. Lawyer Lindsay Lane told the court, “It is not a battle between creatives and technology… copyright and database rights are critical to AI’s advancement. The issue arises when AI companies use protected works without payment.”

This case is among several global lawsuits addressing the use of copyrighted material to train AI models since the rise of generative AI tools like ChatGPT. The creative sector is actively debating the legal and ethical implications, with notable artists calling for stronger protections.

Legal experts say the outcome will be pivotal in defining copyright’s role in AI, potentially influencing future government policy. Rebecca Newman, a UK lawyer not involved in the case, said, “We’re in uncharted legal territory… this case will set important boundaries on copyright monopolies in the AI era.” Similarly, Cerys Wyn Davies noted the ruling could significantly impact market practices and the UK’s appeal for AI development.

Crypto Funds’ Assets Reach Record High as Investors Hedge and Diversify

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Assets in crypto funds surged to an all-time high in May amid easing trade tensions and growing investor appetite for digital currencies as tools to hedge market volatility and diversify away from U.S. assets.

Data from Morningstar covering 294 crypto funds shows net inflows of $7.05 billion last month—the highest since December—pushing total assets under management to a record $167 billion.

Nicolas Lin, CEO of fintech firm Aether Holdings, noted that bitcoin is “starting to come into its own again,” transitioning from merely a high-volatility asset to one increasingly used for hedging exposure. Over the past three months, bitcoin has risen more than 15%, outperforming the MSCI World Index’s 3.6% gain and gold’s 13.3% increase.

Analyst Nic Puckrin of Coin Bureau cited a loss of faith in the U.S. investment outlook as a key driver behind bitcoin’s rise. With the dollar projected to weaken, bond yields rising, and equity markets uncertain, bitcoin has maintained strength. Institutional inflows have further supported bitcoin, especially after U.S. approvals of spot bitcoin and ether ETFs.

Contrasting crypto funds, Lipper data showed $5.9 billion flowed out of global equity funds in May, and gold funds experienced their first outflow in 15 months, at $678 million—highlighting a broader shift toward portfolio diversification.

Lin anticipates that crypto inflows will remain strong but steadier than the initial rush following ETF launches. “What’s happening now is more important — it’s the start of crypto becoming a permanent fixture in diversified portfolios,” he said.

Supporting this trend, Coinshares data reports bitcoin funds attracted a net $5.5 billion and ether funds $890 million in May.

Rednote Joins Wave of Chinese Firms Releasing Open-Source AI Models

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Chinese social media platform Rednote (Xiaohongshu) has released an open-source large language model named dots.llm1, joining a growing number of Chinese tech companies making AI models publicly available. This open-source move contrasts with many U.S. tech giants like OpenAI and Google, which keep their most advanced AI models proprietary, although some American firms such as Meta have also embraced open-source AI.

The release aims to showcase China’s technological prowess, foster developer communities, and extend global influence amid U.S. export restrictions targeting China’s advanced semiconductor industry.

According to Rednote’s technical paper published last Friday on Hugging Face, dots.llm1 performs comparably on coding tasks to Alibaba’s Qwen 2.5 model but is less advanced than models like DeepSeek-V3.

Rednote, known for its Instagram-style platform where users share photos, videos, and text, ramped up AI development after OpenAI’s ChatGPT debut in late 2022. Recently, it launched Diandian, an AI-powered search app for its main platform.

Other Chinese companies following this open-source path include Alibaba, which introduced the upgraded Qwen 3 model in April, and startup DeepSeek, whose low-cost R1 model has made waves globally for its competitive performance despite lower development costs.