Wirestock, a platform founded in Armenia, previously known as a service for selling photos and illustrations through photo stocks like Shutterstock, has raised $23 million in investments after a sharp change in strategy. The company has bet on the artificial intelligence market and now supplies multimodal data for AI laboratories.
While Wirestock previously helped authors distribute content on photo stocks, since 2023 the company has focused on creating and preparing datasets for training neural networks. This includes images, videos, design elements, game content, and 3D materials needed by developers of modern AI models.
According to the company, more than 700,000 artists and designers are already registered on the platform. They perform tasks for creating and labeling content using a model similar to freelance exchanges like Fiverr. Thus, Wirestock has effectively transformed from a photo stock intermediary into one of the suppliers of "fuel" for generative AI.