Disney comes to Sora: What you can and can't do with the characters
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Disney has entered the AI age — but under a new agreement between Walt Disney Company and OpenAI, there are guardrails on how Sora users can get creative with the entertainment giant's classic characters.
Why it matters: Disney's move to solidify itself as the first major content licensing partner on Sora marks a stunning endorsement of AI-generated content — and signals Disney's openness to "responsible" use of the emerging tech.
Driving the news: As part of the deal, Disney will make a $1 billion equity investment in OpenAI and will receive warrants to buy additional equity.
- Axios' Sarah Fischer and Jeffrey Cane report from a source familiar that Disney hopes the deal shows the tech industry that it's open to equitable agreements with AI firms — as long as its rights and creators are protected.
What we know about the deal:
What will Sora be able to do with Disney characters?
Sora will be able to generate short videos from user prompts, drawing from more than 200 "animated, masked and creature characters," as well as from costumes, environments, props, and vehicles owned by Disney.
- Users can also harness ChatGPT Images to create stills using the same intellectual property.
What they're saying: Bob Iger, Disney's CEO, said in a statement that the collaboration "puts imagination and creativity directly into the hands of Disney fans in ways we've never seen before."
- Curated selections of Sora-generated videos will also be available on the Disney+ streaming service.
What can't you do with Disney characters with Sora?
The agreement does not cover the voices and likenesses of Disney talent.
Catch up quick: Talent agencies and SAG-AFTRA sounded the alarm over Sora 2 after its invite-only launch earlier this year.
- "SAG-AFTRA will closely monitor the deal and its implementation to ensure compliance with our contracts and with applicable laws protecting image, voice, and likeness," the labor union said in a Thursday statement.
- Disney and OpenAI both assured the union that they "will meet their contractual and legal obligations to performers and continue to implement systems to ensure ethical and responsible use of this technology," the statement said.
- After actor Bryan Cranston's voice and likeness were able to be generated without his consent earlier this year, OpenAI strengthened guardrails around voice and likeness replication. SAG-AFTRA president Sean Astin applauded the "positive resolution" at that time.
The fine print: Additionally, OpenAI said it commits to continuing to implement safety measures, like age-appropriate policies.
- OpenAI and Disney also affirmed that they will maintain "robust controls" to stop harmful or illegal content from being generated.
- Axios reported that the two companies created a joint steering committee to monitor user creations for any content that violates a voluminous brand appendix, which outlines use cases Disney wouldn't want its characters to be associated with.
What Disney characters will be available in the Sora deal?
A broad slate of characters will be available for fans to use in their creations. They include:
- Mickey and Minnie Mouse;
- Lilo and Stitch;
- several princesses, including Ariel, Belle (and her Beast) and Cinderella;
- and characters from "The Lion King," "Big Hero 6," "Encanto," "Frozen," "Inside Out" and more.
The intrigue: Also available will be animated or illustrated versions of characters from Marvel and Star Wars, like Black Panther, Captain America, Han Solo and Luke Skywalker.
When will the Disney deal be available?
Sora and ChatGPT images are expected to start generating content with Disney's licensed characters early next year, according to press releases from Disney and OpenAI.
Disney's past clashes over AI
Disney has ramped up legal threats against AI firms over the use of its copyrighted characters.
- Just this week, it sent a cease-and-desist letter to Google, alleging the search engine and tech giant had been infringing on its works to train generative AI models without compensation.
- In September, it also sent a cease-and-desist to Character.AI, demanding the developer immediately stop using its characters without authorization.
- "Disney will not allow your company to hijack its characters, damage its brands, or infringe its copyrights and/or trademarks," the letter read.
- A Character.AI spokesperson said in response that Disney's characters had been removed from its service.
Zoom out: In June, it teamed up with NBCUniversal to bring a historic lawsuit against Midjourney, a generative AI company, accusing it of copyright infringement.
- In September, Disney sued Chinese AI firm MiniMax alongside NBCUniversal and Warner Bros. Discovery.
Go deeper: Disney's landmark OpenAI deal comes as AI battle rages
Editor's note: This story has been updated with a statement from SAG-AFTRA.
