By Guardian staff reporter
Publication Date: 2025-12-11 14:31:00
Walt Disney has announced a $1 billion capital investment in OpenAI, allowing the AI startup to use its characters with the video generation tool Sora.
Sora users will be able to create short, user-initiated social videos based on more than 200 Disney, Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars characters under a three-year licensing agreement between OpenAI and the entertainment giant.
A selection of user-created videos will also be available to stream on the Disney+ platform.
Disney CEO Bob Iger hailed a deal that combined his company’s “iconic stories and characters” with OpenAI’s AI technology. It will “put imagination and creativity directly into the hands of Disney fans in a way we’ve never seen before,” he claimed.
But it comes amid deep concern in Hollywood about the impact of artificial intelligence on the industry, expression and creators’ rights.
Disney will also leverage OpenAI’s application programming interfaces to develop new products and tools, becoming a…
