Disney will open up its toy chest of 200+ characters for AI creators in a $1 billion deal with OpenAI

Mickey Mouse, welcome to the AI era.

Fans will soon be able to create short-form generative AI videos featuring more than 200 Disney, Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars characters, thanks to a three-year agreement that the Walt Disney Co. inked Thursday with OpenAI. In addition to a $1 billion equity investment in the tech company, Disney will become the first major content licensing partner on OpenAI’s Sora app.

The new collaboration offers an opportunity for Disney to “extend the reach of our storytelling” through AI, Bob Iger, Disney’s CEO, 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.”

As for what Disney gets out of this deal, the media giant said it will become a “major customer” of OpenAI and receive warrants to purchase additional equity. Disney employees will also have access to ChatGPT and use OpenAI’s tools to build new products and experiences.

DISNEY’S CLASHES WITH AI

The move by Disney is interesting on two fronts: The company is famously and aggressively protective of its characters, having had other recent clashes over artificial intelligence. 

In June, Disney and Universal Pictures sued the AI image creator Midjourney, alleging that the company trained its AI models on their intellectual property. And Disney jumped into another AI-related legal tussle this week. The company sent a cease-and-desist letter to Google on Wednesday, accusing the tech giant of using AI to engage in copyright infringement on a “massive scale,” as Variety reported.

By partnering with OpenAI, Disney is busting open its massive toy chest of popular characters spanning the decades—from Mickey Mouse and Darth Vader to Ariel and Captain America—as fodder for AI creators. The company even teased that some of these fan-created videos could stream on Disney+.

It will be interesting to see how this partnership plays out once fans are allowed to start creating videos, which could be sometime in early 2026. When Sora launched in September, the blowback came fast and furious after users flocked to the platform to create AI-generated videos featuring all sorts of popular characters. Within weeks, the Motion Picture Academy urged OpenAI to stop allowing copyright infringement on the platform.

EMPHASIS ON RESPONSIBILITY

But Disney and OpenAI emphasized in their announcement that the companies have a shared commitment to the responsible use of AI, which includes protecting the rights of creators.

“This agreement shows how AI companies and creative leaders can work together responsibly to promote innovation that benefits society, respect the importance of creativity, and help works reach vast new audiences,” Sam Altman, cofounder and CEO of OpenAI, said in a statement. 

How, exactly, opening up the Disney library of characters to use on an AI platform benefits society is a bit unclear. But the agreement seemingly will give Disney more control over how its characters are used in this new era. 

And, at the very least, investors seem intrigued by the partnership. Disney shares rose nearly 1.5% amid a broader market rally as of midday Thursday.