You'll soon be able to make AI images and videos featuring some of Disney's most iconic characters without worrying about getting sued for copyright infringement. Disney on Thursday announced it would be bringing over 200 of its animated characters to OpenAI's ChatGPT and Sora services, letting AI users create images and videos of their favorites from Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars.
Disney will also make a $1 billion equity investment in OpenAI, setting the stage for a potentially powerful partnership between giants in entertainment and artificial intelligence.
In the same week Disney announced it's going into business with OpenAI, we learned Disney is putting another major AI player on notice. Disney on Wednesday slapped Google with a cease-and-desist letter, claiming Google's new AI models, such as nano banana pro, are infringing on Disney's copyright on a "massive scale."
Disney's partnership with OpenAI and legal action against Google are emblematic of the different ways that owners of intellectual property are dealing with AI amid growing legal and ethical concerns. Here's what you need to know.
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Why is Disney partnering with OpenAI?
Sora is the sister app to ChatGPT. It's an AI social media app, letting its users create and share AI-generated videos. Its popularity skyrocketed after its September launch, with the app quickly reaching the No. 1 spot in the Apple and Google Play stores at the height of its popularity this fall.
AI models like Sora have been frequent targets of copyright infringement lawsuits, with copyright holders claiming AI companies are allowing their users to create unauthorized ultrarealistic versions of their protected characters. Disney is currently suing Midjourney AI for this, calling the AI firm "a bottomless pit of plagiarism." With this new deal, Disney is giving OpenAI explicit permission for Sora to use its intellectual property. (Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET's parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)
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From what we know so far of the three-year licensing deal, Sora users will have access to over 200 "animated, masked and creature" characters from its most popular franchises beginning in early 2026. Marvel superheroes, Disney princesses and Star Wars icons will all be replicable in AI video clips. Environments (like the world of Encanto), costumes, props and vehicles are also included.
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