Disney is investing $1 billion into OpenAI, as well as signing a deal to license its well-known characters to Sora, the AI company’s video generation platform.
Disney’s backing of OpenAI is the first major licensing deal for Sora.
As part of the deal, Sora, OpanTopics’ shortform video-generating social media network, will be able to use over 200 Disney animated characters in videos created by users. Those characters are Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Disney princesses Ariel, Belle & Cinderella from Frozen (though, not pictured in this post; but they also have merchandise for Mulan, Pocahontas and Tiana), Moana and then some other friends like Buzz Lightyear. Marvel and Lucasfilm’s animated characters, such as Black Panther and Star Wars’ Yoda are also part of the deal though it does not feature talent likenesses or voices.
Those who use OpenAI’s widely used chatbot ChatGPT will even be able to prompt the bot to generate images of those Disney characters.
Disney has signed a deal with OpenAI & invested $1 billion into the company
Sora will now be able to AI generate videos based on animated, masked & creature characters from Disney, Marvel, Pixar & Star Wars
Curated selections of AI generated videos will be released on Disney+ pic.twitter.com/6pj6klVhDx
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) December 11, 2025
“Artificial intelligence is one of the most transformative technologies of our time, and has the potential to help us create new forms of storytelling; however, it’s crucial that innovators be responsible in how they use this technology,” Disney CEO Robert A. Iger wrote as part of a statement.
OpenAI, which has faced criticism for infringing on copyrights – and also for signing huge ‘circular’ deals that caused worries of an AI bubble – said the deal proves the creative community can coexist with AI.
“Disney is the gold standard for storytelling,” said Sam Altman, the co-founder and chief executive of OpenAI, “and we’re thrilled to team up on ways Sora and ChatGPT Images can push the boundaries of how people create — and experience — amazing content.” “This agreement demonstrates how AI companies and creative stakeholders can cooperate responsibly to address innovation for the benefit of society, respecting the significance of creativity and helping works find new audiences on a global scale.”
Shortly after the agreement reveal, Iger and Altman were interviewed by CNBC’s David Faber where Disney’s CEO emphasized that the deal “does not in any way represent a threat to the creators.”
“In fact, quite the contrary, I think it does honor them and respect them in that it’s not just something from the past,” Iger said, before adding later that the hope is to “continue to honor, respect, value the creative community in general.”
Iger also emphasized that the transaction permits Disney to “feel comfortable that OpenAI is indeed, in effect, putting guardrails around how these are used,” and saying, “frankly there is nothing for us to be worried about from a consumer perspective.” Altman also emphasized that guardrails would be in place, telling Faber “it is very important that we empower Disney to establish and to change those guardrails over time but they will certainly be in there.”
And the deal is exclusive, at least in some part, according to Iger. The Disney CEO suggested that “there is exclusivity, basically, at the beginning of the three-year agreement” but wouldn’t say more about what that means. When asked whether OpenAI was seeking similar deals with other companies, Mr. Altman said: “I wouldn’t rule anything out in the future, but we believe that this all on its own is going to be a fantastic beginning.”
Disney has sued AI companies for using its intellectual property in the past. The company sent Google a cease and desist letter on Monday, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Its AI products, like its image and video generating products Veo and Nano Banana, infringe Disney’s copyrights “on a massive scale” by allowing users to create images and videos of their characters, according to the cease and desist letter. In its letter, the group accuses Google of “refusing to adopt even basic technological tools such as automatic content recognition,” that could help reduce or prevent copyright infringement.
In a statement, a Google spokesman replied that they have “a long standing and productive relationship with Disney, and we will continue working with them.”
More broadly, we rely on open web data to train our AI and have developed further creative copyright protections such as Google-extended and Content ID for YouTube that give both websites and copyright owners control over their content.”
Disney previously had sent the same cease and desist letters to Meta and Character. AI. And Disney and Universal in June sued AI photo generation company Midjourney, claiming the outfit stepped into the copyright law hole.
