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Disney Backs OpenAI, Licenses 200+ Characters to Sora in Three-Year Deal

Plans to curate Sora clips on Disney+ sharpen questions over moderation and brand safety.

Overview

  • Disney will invest about $1 billion in OpenAI and adopt its APIs to build new products and tools.
  • The agreement authorizes short videos featuring Disney, Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars characters while excluding human actors’ faces and voices.
  • Disney sent a cease-and-desist to Google, which removed AI videos using Disney intellectual property from services including Veo, according to trade reports.
  • Publishers have documented Sora videos that mimic Disney’s style with offensive and extreme themes, underscoring unresolved enforcement and copyright issues.
  • Select user-made Sora videos are slated for curation on Disney+, with availability reported to begin in 2026.