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By Peter Aitken and Shane Croucher
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The Walt Disney Company said it has signed a $1 billion deal with OpenAI to allow users of its AI video generation platform Sora to create content featuring more than 200 Disney, Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars characters.
The deal will also see "a selection of these fan-inspired Sora short form videos available to stream on Disney+," said a release from the company.
Newsweek reached out to The Walt Disney Company by email on Thursday morning for further comment, as well as the Screen Actor's Guild of America (SAG-AFTRA) and Writer's Guild of America West (WGAW) by their respective submission forms for comment.
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Why It Matters
SAG-AFTRA and WGA both went on strike in 2023 over contract disputes, which included concerns about the impacts artificial intelligence (AI) would have on the industry and work opportunities in the future.
SAG-AFTRA members had managed to get studios to agree to a protection for actors' digital likenesses, which guild leadership praised as a "groundbreaking" proposal. WGA also obtained an agreement that "AI-generated material can't be used to undermine a writer's credit or separated rights," and WGA obtained an agreement that allows them to challenge AI trained using writers' existing work.
Supporters of AI continue to press the desire for Hollywood to embrace the new technology and work to understand and leverage it where appropriate.
Disney is also famous as one of the most legally savvy companies that has not only worked to change the scope of copyright law to protect its characters and properties, but also did not hesitate to go after tech companies, such as Google, for “infringing Disney’s copyrights on a massive scale" after Google's AI systems easily generated content using characters from Star Wars, The Simpsons, Deadpool, and The Lion King.
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What To Know
Disney announced the deal with OpenAI in a press release issued Thursday morning, which will see the entertainment giant embrace AI technology to not only generate user-made content, but also develop "new products, tools, and experiences, including for Disney+, and deploying ChatGPT for its employees."
Disney stressed that the agreement "does not include any talent likenesses or voices" as it seeks to "unlock new possibilities in imaginative storytelling."
The deal is expected to start yielding results - including the fan-inspired videos and content - in early 2026, according to the statement.
Disney has said that fans can use Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Lilo and Stitch, Ariel, Belle, Beast, Cinderella, Simba, and Mufasa - among others - in their content, as well as characters from Encanto, Frozen, Moana, Monsters Inc., Toy Story, Zootopia, and more.
The deal will also include characters from subsidiary properties from Marvel and Disney, although it remains unclear how this squares with the assurance against talent likeness or voices, although the statement lists them under "iconic animated or illustrated versions" of the characters.
Safety and guarantees of protections against inappropriate content remain a chief concern for the deal, but Disney has revealed that OpenAI will be responsible for implementing those safeguards, including age-appropriate policies and "other reasonable controls across the service" as well as "robust controls to prevent the generation of illegal or harmful content, to respect the rights of content owners in relation to the outputs of models, and to respect the rights of individuals to appropriately control the use of their voice and likeness."
What People Are Saying
Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger in his statement issued Thursday, in part: "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. Bringing together Disney’s iconic stories and characters with OpenAI’s groundbreaking technology puts imagination and creativity directly into the hands of Disney fans in ways we’ve never seen before, giving them richer and more personal ways to connect with the Disney characters and stories they love.”
OpenAI co-founder and CEO Sam Altman in a statement issued Thursday, in part: "This agreement shows how AI companies and creative leaders can work together responsibly to promote innovation that benefits society, respect the importance of creativity, and help works reach vast new audiences.”
This article includes reporting by The Associated Press.
Update 12/11/25, 11:40 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.
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