Walt Disney has announced a $1bn equity investment in OpenAI, granting the startup permission to use more than 200 Disney, Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars characters in its Sora video generation tool. The three-year licensing agreement will allow users to create short, prompt-based social videos featuring some of the world’s most recognisable characters.
The partnership lands at a time when actors, writers and other industry workers are increasingly vocal about AI’s impact on jobs, creative ownership and consent. Under the deal, OpenAI will gain access to Disney’s character library, but the agreement does not cover talent likenesses or voices.
Disney CEO Bob Iger celebrated the collaboration, saying it combines the company’s “iconic stories and characters” with OpenAI’s technology to put “imagination and creativity directly into the hands of Disney fans in ways we’ve never seen before”.
For OpenAI, the agreement marks its most significant move into Hollywood to date, following a bumpy rollout of Sora and intense criticism from creatives concerned about unauthorised use of likenesses, jobs being automated away and the ethical risks of AI-generated content.
Copyright Concerns Have Shadowed Sora Since Its Launch
When OpenAI released an earlier iteration of Sora this year, it immediately raised copyright red flags. The platform was inundated with videos featuring characters such as SpongeBob SquarePants or Pikachu — some even manipulated into Nazi-like imagery. Racist depictions of Martin Luther King Jr forced OpenAI to ban his likeness entirely, while Malcolm X’s daughter condemned the use of her father’s image as “deeply disrespectful and hurtful”.
Disney, too, has been battling unauthorised use of its characters across AI platforms. In October, it sent a cease-and-desist letter to Character.AI, accusing it of “blatantly infringing” its copyrights. On Wednesday, Variety reported that Disney attorneys had issued a similar notice to Google over alleged misuse of its IP by the company’s AI systems.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who recently appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, said the deal demonstrates how AI companies and entertainment leaders “can work together responsibly” and ensure that innovation respects creativity and benefits society.
Collaboration Aims to ‘Extend Storytelling Responsibly’
The partnership extends beyond character licensing. Disney will use OpenAI’s APIs to build new digital products and tools, becoming a major customer of the ChatGPT developer. Select user-generated Sora videos will also be available to stream on Disney+, and the company will roll out ChatGPT for its employees.
“Technological innovation has continually shaped the evolution of entertainment,” said Iger. “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.”
The landmark deal signals a new phase in the uneasy relationship between Hollywood and AI, one that seeks balance between technological advancement and safeguarding creative rights.
