Disney: invests $1 billion in OpenAI, licenses characters for Sora

Milan, 11 December (LaPresse) – Disney will invest $1 billion in OpenAI and bring characters such as Mickey Mouse, Cinderella and Luke Skywalker to the AI company’s Sora video generation tool, thanks to a licensing agreement announced on Thursday by the two companies. The deal makes Walt Disney Co. the first major content licensing partner for Sora, which uses generative artificial intelligence to create short videos. Under the three-year licensing agreement, fans will be able to use Sora to generate and share videos based on more than 200 Disney, Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars characters. AI-powered video generators such as Sora have amazed with their ability to quickly create realistic clips based simply on text prompts. However, the flood of such videos on social media, including clips depicting deceased celebrities and public figures, has raised concerns that “AI garbage” could supplant human-created works, as well as fears related to misinformation, deepfakes and copyright. Disney and OpenAI have stated their commitment to responsible use of artificial intelligence that protects user safety and creator rights. As part of the agreement, some user-generated Sora videos will be made available on the Disney+ streaming service. Disney will also become a “major customer” of OpenAI and will use its technology to create new products, tools and services. In addition, it will introduce ChatGPT to its employees.