It's "A Whole New World."
The Walt Disney Co. announced Thursday that it had reached a three-year agreement with OpenAI to bring its popular characters to the company's Sora artificial intelligence video generator.
Disney will also make a $1 billion investment in OpenAI, the owner of ChatGPT. It said it will become a “major customer” of OpenAI, using its services to develop new products and experiences, including for its Disney+ streaming service.
“Under the agreement, Disney and OpenAI are affirming a shared commitment to the responsible use of AI that protects user safety and the rights of creators,” the companies said in a statement.
They did not disclose the terms of the deal, and both Disney CEO Bob Iger and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman declined to reveal any details Thursday morning during a joint interview on CNBC.
OpenAI, meanwhile, said it has committed to “implementing responsible measures to further address trust and safety, including age-appropriate policies,” but did not provide additional details about what that would entail.
The issue of how AI chatbots engage with users under 18 is the subject of a national conversation and several lawsuits.
Disney said characters that are part of the deal include: Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Lilo, Stitch, Ariel, Belle, Beast, Cinderella, Baymax, Simba and Mufasa, as well as characters from the worlds of “Encanto,” “Frozen,” “Inside Out,” “Moana,” “Monsters Inc.,” “Toy Story,” “Up” and “Zootopia.”
On CNBC, Iger described the deal broadly as "kind of a way" for Disney to get into AI.
The deal is notable in part because Disney is famously protective of its sprawling portfolio of intellectual property, from the animated shorts of the 1920s to modern superhero and fantasy franchises.
Altman said, "We hear so much from users about how much they love Disney," adding that he expects Sora users to respond "very well" to the inclusion of Disney characters.
The companies do not yet have a launch date yet, however, Altman said. "We'll try to get it in there as soon as we can."
The company's statement had mentioned "early 2026" as a potential launch date.
Iger said in a statement, “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."
Disney shares closed 2.4% higher Thursday.
Media companies are wrestling with how to secure the value of their intellectual property while not being left behind by what many see as a transformative technology with few legal guardrails yet.
With OpenAI, Disney would be creating a legitimate avenue through which a generative AI program could deploy its characters, rather than playing whack-a-mole with every AI company, as Disney has done with other kinds of media in the past.
The studio has taken aggressive legal action for years to block the unauthorized use of its recognizable characters, logos and musical scores. Disney has also lobbied Congress for U.S. copyright extensions, including a 1998 federal law that some critics labeled the “Mickey Mouse Protection Act.”
