Disney's $1 billion deal with OpenAI will bring Disney characters to Sora

Disney is investing $1 billion in OpenAI, the entertainment giant announced on Thursday. As part of the deal, OpenAI users will be able to create AI images and videos featuring some of Disney's copyrighted characters.

OpenAI recently launched Sora, an AI video generation app powered by the Sora 2 video model, which allows users to create short videos by typing in a text prompt. When the app first launched, it freely used copyrighted characters from companies like Disney, before OpenAI ultimately cracked down. Now, users will be able to create content on Sora using characters from Disney, Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars universes.

The deal also extends to ChatGPT, where users will be able to create images with these characters just by entering a text prompt.

“The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence marks an important moment for our industry, and through this collaboration with OpenAI, we will thoughtfully and responsibly extend the reach of our storytelling through generative AI, while respecting and protecting creators and their works,” Disney CEO Bob Iger 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," he said.

Disney also said that it will now become a "major customer" of OpenAI, and that it will be using its API to "build new products, tools, and experiences," as well as deploy ChatGPT for its employees.

While Disney has cozied up with OpenAI, the company has taken a very different approach with other AI companies. In June 2025, Disney and Universal filed a lawsuit against AI company Midjourney, calling the AI image generator a "bottomless pit of plagiarism."

Sora ruffled some feathers when it launched this September, too, with the Motion Picture Association urging OpenAI to take action against copyright infringement on the platform.

Disclosure: Ziff Davis, Mashable’s parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.