Overview
- Disney’s three-year agreement licenses 200-plus animated and illustrated characters across Disney, Pixar, Marvel and Star Wars for Sora-generated short videos, with actor likenesses and voices excluded.
- Disney will become an OpenAI customer using its API and deploying ChatGPT internally, and selected fan-made Sora videos may appear on Disney+ pending customary approvals.
- OpenAI says the deal includes a $1 billion equity investment from Disney with warrants to purchase additional shares, subject to final negotiations and board sign-offs.
- Developers report OpenAI’s new image models, Chestnut and Hazelnut, are in blind tests on Design Arena and LM Arena and generally trail Google’s Nano Banana Pro in realism, with some face quality and hallucination issues noted.
- Reports indicate OpenAI is preparing to launch GPT-5.2 as soon as this week and could pair it with the image models, while Sam Altman has reportedly declared a temporary ‘code red’ focus on improving ChatGPT and pausing side projects including Sora.