Freepik CEO - No, AI hasn't killed the stock image market (www.techradar.com)

At Freepik’s Upscale Conf in Malaga, CEO and co‑founder Joaquín Cuenca pushed back on the idea that generative AI has killed the stock-image market. He said Freepik’s core stock business remains “stable or growing” even as the company layers in AI image and video generators, upscaling tools, and a new cloud-based, node‑based collaboration platform called Freepik Spaces. Cuenca argued that many users still prefer or require traditional stock — and that AI and stock are already converging: people combine licensed photography with AI editing rather than replacing it outright. For the AI/ML community this underscores a hybrid future: generative models expand creative workflows but don’t fully displace authentic, provenance-sensitive content (think travel, product shots, or regulated uses). Key technical implications include continued demand for high-quality labeled photographic datasets, tooling for seamless stock+AI integration (editing, upscaling, node-based pipelines), and stronger provenance/licensing and detection systems to manage rights and authenticity. In short, AI augments stock ecosystems and creates new product and moderation challenges, but it’s more evolution than extinction.