--- title: Does AI Need Your Video? date: 2026-10-01T01:38:00-07:00 author: "Denise O'Keeffe" canonical_url: "https://videoelephant.com/blog/does-ai-need-your-video" section: Blog --- ###### In this post... [Does AI Need Every Type of Video?](#does-ai-need-every-type-of-video) [What Kinds of Video Are AI Companies Looking For?](#what-kinds-of-video-are-ai-companies-looking-for) [Why Is AI Video Sourcing More Complicated Than Searching a Library?](#why-is-ai-video-sourcing-more-complicated-than-searching-a-library) [What Makes Video Useful for AI Training?](#what-makes-video-useful-for-ai-training) [Why Do Rights Matter When Licensing Video for AI?](#why-do-rights-matter-when-licensing-video-for-ai) [What Does AI Licensing Mean for Video Content Owners?](#what-does-ai-licensing-mean-for-video-content-owners) [Why Is Sourcing Important for AI Companies?](#why-is-sourcing-important-for-ai-companies) [How VideoElephant Sources Video for AI](#how-video-elephant-sources-video-for-ai) [Frequently Asked Questions About Licensing Video for AI](#frequently-asked-questions-about-licensing-video-for-ai) [So, Does AI Need Your Video?](#so-does-ai-need-your-video) [Sources](#sources) Back to top That need is not marginal. The global AI training dataset market is projected to reach $16.3 billion by 2033, growing 22.6% annually from 2026, and image and video data is already the largest single segment, with 41.9% of 2025 revenue [(Grand View Research, 2026).](https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/ai-training-dataset-market) Video has always been created to be watched. Publishers use it to inform and engage audiences. Broadcasters and streaming platforms use it to build programming. Brands and creators use it to tell stories. But video is also taking on another role. As AI companies develop models capable of understanding and generating increasingly complex visual information, some are licensing video to help those systems learn about movement, objects, actions, environments and the physical world. For content owners, that can create an additional licensing opportunity for certain parts of an archive. For AI companies, the challenge isn't simply getting access to more video. It's finding the right video. #### Does AI Need Every Type of Video? The answer is no. The usefulness of video for AI depends on the model being developed and what the system needs to learn. An archive can contain thousands of hours of high-quality programming and still only have a small portion that fits a particular AI project. That's because AI video requirements can be highly specific. One project may need footage showing people interacting naturally with everyday objects. Another may need predictable object movement across a fixed camera angle. A robotics model might require clear sequences showing how an action unfolds from beginning to end. Even something as straightforward as a request for “sports video” can mean very different things. Does the model need to see a ball moving rapidly through space? Multiple people interacting? A static wide camera? Close-up human movement? A consistent playing surface? The answer changes which footage is useful. #### What Kinds of Video Are AI Companies Looking For? There isn't one universal AI video dataset. Depending on the application, buyers may look for footage showing: - People performing everyday activities - Human interaction with physical objects - Sports and objects in motion - Cooking and food preparation - Tools, machinery and processes - Travel and outdoor environments - Wildlife and animal behavior - Different forms of human movement - Varied camera angles and perspectives - Changes in lighting, weather and surroundings - Long sequences showing actions developing over time Production characteristics can matter just as much as subject matter. A project might require native high-resolution footage, limited graphics or overlays, particular frame rates, longer uninterrupted scenes or a wide variety of environments and camera positions. So, while volume matters for many AI applications, relevance and diversity matter too. #### Why Is AI Video Sourcing More Complicated Than Searching a Library? The terminology used to describe an AI training requirement doesn't always translate neatly into traditional media categories. Consider a request for tennis footage. The obvious response is to search a library for “tennis.” But after understanding the underlying model requirement, it might become clear that the AI team is actually looking for footage of an object moving predictably through a relatively fixed field of view. Suddenly, tennis is only one option. Volleyball, bowling, billiards or other activities might exhibit many of the same visual characteristics. The same is true for a request such as “human interaction with objects.” That could encompass everything from someone flipping a pancake to repairing a bicycle, packing a suitcase or using a power tool. The job is not simply about matching keywords. It is understanding what the model needs to observe, then translating that requirement into video that exists in the real world. #### What Makes Video Useful for AI Training? The exact criteria vary by project, but here are five characteristics to keep in mind. **Visual diversity** A model may benefit from seeing an action or object across different environments, subjects, perspectives and conditions rather than thousands of nearly identical examples. **Technical quality** Resolution, frame rate, bit rate, duration and other file characteristics can affect whether footage meets a project's specifications. Native quality can matter as well. A file technically encoded at 1080p may not meet a requirement for native HD footage if the original material was produced at a lower resolution. **Clean source material** For some applications, footage containing on-screen text, logos, graphics or other overlays may be less useful than cleaner source video. But that is not a universal rule. As with most aspects of AI sourcing, it depends on the model and use case. **Useful sequences** For models learning physical actions or movement, a complete sequence may be more valuable than a short, edited highlight. A model might benefit more from seeing the steps involved in preparing a dish than from a two-second shot of the finished product. **Clear rights** The footage also needs to be licensable for the intended AI use. That makes understanding provenance, ownership and permitted usage an important part of the sourcing process. #### Why Do Rights Matter When Licensing Video for AI? Licensed video gives AI companies a defined framework for how content can be used. A commercial agreement can establish the source of the footage, the relevant rights, the permitted use, the content covered by the agreement and any restrictions attached to it. For an AI company, it means understanding what content it has permission to use and under what terms. For the content owner, it means maintaining control over how its intellectual property is licensed. And importantly, licensing footage for an AI application does not inherently replace the ways that content is already being used. Depending on the rights and agreement involved, the same library can continue serving publishers, platforms and audiences while particular footage is licensed separately for an appropriate AI use. This kind of structure is already playing out in the market. Shutterstock's library, for instance, is licensed to OpenAI under a six-year agreement covering images, video, music and metadata, alongside Shutterstock's continued use of that same library for its own publisher and enterprise customers ([Shutterstock, 2023](https://investor.shutterstock.com/news-releases/news-release-details/shutterstock-expands-partnership-openai-signs-new-six-year)). By 2024, Shutterstock reported that AI licensing alone had grown into a $104 million revenue line ([Bloomberg via Yahoo Finance, 2024](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/shutterstock-ai-licensing-business-generated-120000890.html)). #### What Does AI Licensing Mean for Video Content Owners? For some content owners, AI creates a new potential customer for material already sitting within their archives. But the opportunity shouldn't be framed as simply turning an entire back catalogue into “training data.” The more useful question is: *Which parts of your library have characteristics that match what a particular AI model needs?* A piece of footage can have value in more than one context. Where the rights and requirements align, a cooking video, for example, can: - Attract an audience on a publisher's website - Be distributed as part of a video programming strategy - Be useful to an AI company trying to understand hands, utensils, ingredients and physical actions - For rights holders, the opportunity is in understanding where those use cases overlap without diminishing the original value or purpose of the content. #### Why Is Sourcing Important for AI Companies? The other side of the equation is equally important. AI teams may know precisely what they want their models to learn but fulfilling that requirement can involve finding footage across many different producers, publishers, creators and specialist libraries. That makes AI video sourcing a combination of content discovery, rights management, technical validation and curation. A sourcing partner can help an AI team: - Translate a model requirement into practical video criteria - Identify relevant categories and sources - Find content across multiple rights holders - Validate footage against agreed technical requirements - Identify duplicate or unsuitable material - Establish licensing terms with content owners - Assemble larger, more diverse collections efficiently The finished product is not simply a folder containing thousands of video files. Ideally, it is a licensed collection built around a specific objective. #### How VideoElephant Sources Video for AI VideoElephant has spent years working between the companies that create video and the companies that need it. Traditionally, that has meant helping publishers and platforms access professionally produced video for audiences around the world, and that remains a core part of our business. AI adds another type of licensing requirement. Our role is to start with what an AI company is trying to accomplish and work backwards. Rather than assuming a broad category is enough, we work to understand the characteristics that make footage useful for the project. We can then identify relevant video across our network of content partners, work with rights holders, assess content against the agreed brief and facilitate licensing for the intended use. That ability to source across a broad video ecosystem is particularly important when a project moves from a general request to something much more specific. “Cooking” can become hands manipulating utensils. “Sports” can become objects moving across a fixed camera. “Travel” can become people navigating different physical environments. Getting that translation right can be the difference between simply delivering a lot of video and delivering video that is genuinely useful. #### Frequently Asked Questions About Licensing Video for AI **Can existing video libraries be licensed for AI training?** Yes, potentially. Existing video can be licensed for AI applications when the rights allow for the intended use, and the footage meets the buyer's content and technical requirements. The age of the footage is often less important than what it depicts and how it was produced. **What types of video are most valuable for AI?** There is no single highest-value category. What matters depends on the model. Human activity, sports, food, travel, wildlife, instructional footage and many other categories can be relevant when they contain the visual characteristics an AI project requires. Video is already the largest single content type in the AI training data market, ahead of text and audio. **Does video have to be professionally produced?** Not necessarily. Different projects require different types of footage. Some may favor professionally produced video, while others may need more naturalistic or varied visual environments. Rights, technical specifications and the underlying training objective determine the fit. **Does AI licensing prevent a content owner from licensing video elsewhere?** Not necessarily. AI rights can be structured separately from other forms of video licensing, depending on the agreement. Content owners should understand precisely which rights are being granted and any exclusivity or usage restrictions involved. **Why work with a video sourcing partner instead of licensing from one library?** A highly specific AI project may require footage from multiple categories, production styles or content owners. A sourcing partner can help translate the requirement and build a more diverse licensed collection across multiple sources rather than limiting the project to a single catalogue. **What should an AI company provide when requesting video?** The more detail available about the underlying visual requirement, the better. Subject matter is useful, but information about actions, camera perspectives, environments, duration, resolution, movement and other desired characteristics can make sourcing significantly more precise. #### So, Does AI Need Your Video? Maybe. And that's the point. The opportunity isn't based on the assumption that every hour of video should become AI training material. It comes from identifying where a specific video library intersects with a specific model requirement. For content owners, that can mean discovering an additional licensed use for footage while continuing to serve the publishers, platforms and audiences their content was created for. For AI companies, it means moving beyond simply acquiring more data and finding video that is rights-cleared, technically appropriate and genuinely relevant to what a model needs to learn. VideoElephant works with AI companies to source and license video against specific model requirements and with content owners to identify appropriate opportunities within their libraries. If you’re interested in sourcing video for an AI project, or you want to understand whether your library may be relevant? Talk to us at VideoElephant to learn more. #### Sources Grand View Research, [“AI Training Dataset Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report, 2026-2033,”](https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/ai-training-dataset-market) 2026. Shutterstock, Inc., [“Shutterstock Expands Partnership with OpenAI, Signs New Six-Year Agreement to Provide High-Quality Training Data,”](https://investor.shutterstock.com/news-releases/news-release-details/shutterstock-expands-partnership-openai-signs-new-six-year) July 2023. Bloomberg, [“Shutterstock's AI-Licensing Business Generated $104 Million Last Year,”](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/shutterstock-ai-licensing-business-generated-120000890.html) reported via Yahoo Finance, June 2024. ![John Jordan](https://assets.videoelephant.com/team-members/_156x156_crop_center-center_none/photo-1.png)###### John Jordan Chief Operating Officer ###### John Jordan Chief Operating Officer John has 25 years’ sales, marketing and operations experience across a number of sectors, He holds a Bachelor of Science Management degree, an Advanced Diploma in Administration and Marketing and is a qualified business coach. [ ](https://twitter.com/johnfmjordan) [ ](https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnfmjordan/) ###### In this post... [Does AI Need Every Type of Video?](#does-ai-need-every-type-of-video) [What Kinds of Video Are AI Companies Looking For?](#what-kinds-of-video-are-ai-companies-looking-for) [Why Is AI Video Sourcing More Complicated Than Searching a Library?](#why-is-ai-video-sourcing-more-complicated-than-searching-a-library) [What Makes Video Useful for AI Training?](#what-makes-video-useful-for-ai-training) [Why Do Rights Matter When Licensing Video for AI?](#why-do-rights-matter-when-licensing-video-for-ai) [What Does AI Licensing Mean for Video Content Owners?](#what-does-ai-licensing-mean-for-video-content-owners) [Why Is Sourcing Important for AI Companies?](#why-is-sourcing-important-for-ai-companies) [How VideoElephant Sources Video for AI](#how-video-elephant-sources-video-for-ai) [Frequently Asked Questions About Licensing Video for AI](#frequently-asked-questions-about-licensing-video-for-ai) [So, Does AI Need Your Video?](#so-does-ai-need-your-video) [Sources](#sources) Back to top ###### Stay up to date Subscribe for our latest updates and video insights #### You may also like [ ![How VideoElephant Is Scaling AI, FAST Channels, and CTV Out of Home](https://assets.videoelephant.com/images/_eventThumb/Brian-beet-tv-blog.jpg) ###### How VideoElephant Is Scaling AI, FAST Channels, and CTV Out of Home At CES earlier this year, VideoElephant’s Chief Commercial Officer sat down with Beet.TV to discuss how video distribution, AI, FAST channels, and CTV Out of Home are reshaping the media ecosystem. ![Brian Cullinane](https://assets.videoelephant.com/team-members/_author/bio-1.png) Brian Cullinane Feb 13, 2026 ](https://videoelephant.com/blog/how-videoelephant-is-scaling-ai-fast-channels-and-ctv-out-of-home) [ ![What Separates Creators Who Win Off-Social From Those Who Don't](https://assets.videoelephant.com/images/_eventThumb/Creator-case-study-blog_11.png) ###### What Separates Creators Who Win Off-Social From Those Who Don't Most creators think about growing revenue in terms of views and subscribers on their primary channel, often YouTube, TikTok, or Instagram. 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