Molly Schuetz
Disney has agreed to invest $US1 billion in OpenAI and license iconic characters like Mickey Mouse and Cinderella for use on the startup’s short-form, artificial intelligence video platform.
As part of the new three-year pact, OpenAI’s Sora will be able to draw from a library of more than 200 animated and creature characters – from Lilo and Stitch to Ariel and Simba – when generating AI videos in response to user prompts. The deal, announced Thursday, doesn’t cover any talent likenesses or voices, however. So a video could feature Woody from Toy Story but without Tom Hanks’ voice.
“The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence marks an important moment for our industry, and through this collaboration with OpenAI we will thoughtfully and responsibly extend the reach of our storytelling through generative AI, while respecting and protecting creators and their works,” Disney Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger said in the statement.
As part of the agreement, Disney will become a major customer of OpenAI, using its tools to build new products and experiences and deploying ChatGPT for its employees.
Sora and ChatGPT Images are expected to start generating videos with Disney’s characters in early 2026.
The deal marks the largest equity investment a major Hollywood studio has made in an AI model developer to date.
OpenAI has spent months talking to Hollywood’s largest studios, including Disney, Comcast, Universal Pictures and Warner Bros Discovery, about the creative and commercial potential of Sora, Bloomberg News has previously reported. But the studios have been reluctant to get into business with an AI company, wary of how it might use their data and of angering the labor unions with which they work every day.
Disney and Comcast sued another AI company, Midjourney, earlier this year for copyright infringement.
Creative industries from film to music and books have struggled to balance protecting their valuable copyright with the powerful new technologies that have taken off with consumers and offer a potential new avenue for growth. Media businesses that own copyrights say the companies building those models should pay them in order to train on their work. The major record labels sued two audio AI startups last year, though Warner Music Group and Universal Music Group both settled recently with Udio, and struck deals to collaborate on a new commercial music creation and streaming service.
OpenAI unveiled a new version of Sora in September as a standalone social app, available by invitation. As with the original Sora, released last December, users can generate short clips in response to text prompts, but the new app allows people to see videos created by others. Beyond that, users can create a realistic-looking AI avatar and voice of themselves, which can be inserted into videos made with the app by the user or their friends, with the avatar owner’s permission.
“Disney is the global gold standard for storytelling, and we’re excited to partner to allow Sora and ChatGPT Images to expand the way people create and experience great content,” said OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
OpenAI has raised tens of billions of dollars to help cover the cost of talent, chips and data centres needed to build and support cutting-edge AI models. The company was valued at $US500 billion in a secondary share sale completed earlier this year.
