In a watershed moment for Hollywood and generative artificial intelligence, Disney on Thursday announced an agreement to bring its characters to Sora, OpenAI’s short-form video platform. Videos made with Sora will be available to stream on Disney+ as part of the three-year deal.
Disney also said it would buy a $1 billion stake in OpenAI, with an additional equity investment likely to come. Disney said it would work with OpenAI to “build new products, tools and experiences” as part of the deal and “deploy” ChatGPT for its employees.
“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,” Robert A. Iger, the chief executive of Disney, said in a statement.
Disney is the first major Hollywood company to cross this particular Rubicon. Disney, Universal, Warner Bros. Discovery and the like have spent the last couple of years trying to sort through major concerns about how generative A.I. software is built, how copyright holders are compensated and how Hollywood unions may react. Disney and Universal are suing Midjourney, an A.I. image generator that has tens of millions of registered users, for allowing people to create images that “blatantly incorporate and copy” characters owned by the companies. (Midjourney has rejected the claim, saying its actions fall under “fair use.”)
Notably, the agreement announced on Thursday does not include any talent likenesses or voices, and Mr. Iger — perhaps anticipating pushback in Hollywood’s creative community to the agreement — emphasized that Disney would collaborate “thoughtfully and responsibly” with OpenAI.
Brooks Barnes covers all things Hollywood. He joined The Times in 2007 and previously worked at The Wall Street Journal.
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