Disney Invests $1 Billion in OpenAI to Let Fans Create Videos With Its Characters
Disney will invest $1 billion in OpenAI through a three-year deal that lets Sora users make videos with Disney, Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars characters, and brings ChatGPT into Disney’s work tools.
Key Points
Disney has agreed to invest $1 billion in OpenAI and give the company permission to use a large group of its characters inside Sora, OpenAI’s video-creation tool. The three-year deal allows Sora users to make short videos featuring more than 200 characters from Disney, Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars.
Disney clarified that the agreement covers only fictional characters. It does not allow Sora to use the faces or voices of real actors.
How Disney Plans to Use OpenAI Inside the Company
Disney will introduce ChatGPT to employees to help with internal tasks and early-stage development work.
The company also plans to show a selection of Sora-made videos on Disney+, which will be the first time Disney hosts fan-made AI videos that legally use its characters.
Disney CEO Robert Iger said the company wants to test new tools while keeping control over how its characters are used.
Why Disney Chose to License Characters Now
Sora has exploded in popularity because it can create convincing short videos from a few words of text. After the release of its newest version, many online videos appeared using copyrighted characters and public figures without permission.
Disney chose to license its characters to OpenAI so the company can control where and how its brands show up in AI videos instead of watching unlicensed clips spread online.
Why Disney Stepped In on Unapproved Sora Videos
After the newer version of Sora became available, users began posting videos online that included copyrighted characters and well-known figures without permission. Some clips used Disney characters, while others showed public figures such as Martin Luther King Jr.
Disney noticed these videos spreading across social platforms and wanted a way to stop its characters from being placed in unapproved content. The new agreement with OpenAI lets Disney set clear rules for which characters Sora can use and under what terms, instead of leaving users to upload clips on their own.
The deal does not settle ongoing copyright disputes around AI, but it does give Disney a workable system for controlling which of its characters show up in Sora-made videos.
Also Read: Disney Restores ABC, ESPN and Other Channels to YouTube TV After Two-Week Dispute
