Disney Agrees to Bring Its Characters to OpenAI’s Sora Videos

Disney is happy to hire an AI Chatbot to create content at a tenth of the price. Besides real humans complain.

Disney Agrees to Bring Its Characters to OpenAI’s Sora Videos

The deal is a watershed for Hollywood, which has been trying to sort through the possible harms and upsides of generative artificial intelligence.

By Brooks Barnes, NY Times

Reporting from Los Angeles

Dec. 11, 2025

In a watershed moment for Hollywood and generative artificial intelligence, Disney on Thursday announced that it would buy a $1 billion stake in OpenAI and would bring its characters to Sora, the A.I. company’s short-form video platform.

Disney also said that a curated selection of videos made with Sora would be available to stream on Disney+ as part of the three-year deal. Disney said it would work with OpenAI to “build new products, tools and experiences” as part of the deal and integrate ChatGPT into its work flow.

“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,” Robert A. Iger, the chief executive of Disney, said in a statement.

Disney is the first major Hollywood company to cross this particular Rubicon. Disney, Universal, Warner Bros. Discovery and the like have spent the last couple of years trying to sort through major concerns about how generative A.I. software is built, how copyright holders are compensated and how Hollywood unions may react. Disney and Universal are suing Midjourney, an A.I. image generator that has tens of millions of registered users, for allowing people to create images that “blatantly incorporate and copy” characters owned by the companies. (Midjourney has rejected the claim, saying its actions fall under “fair use.”)

Notably, the agreement announced on Thursday does not include any talent likenesses or voices, and Mr. Iger — perhaps anticipating pushback in Hollywood’s creative community to the agreement — emphasized that Disney would collaborate “thoughtfully and responsibly” with OpenAI.

But the popularity of generative A.I. tools like Sora has forced companies like Disney to come to the table — to try to exert some control over the flood of user-generated videos incorporating its imagery and make money off it.

Sora users will be able to start generating videos with Disney characters early next year. The characters include Mickey Mouse and characters from “Encanto,” “Frozen,” “Moana,” “Toy Story,” “Zootopia,” “Inside Out” and other animated movies. Animated or illustrated versions of Marvel characters like Deadpool, Iron Man and Black Panther will also be available, along with “Star Wars” characters like Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker and Yoda.

“This agreement shows how A.I. companies and creative leaders can work together responsibly to promote innovation that benefits society” and “helps works reach vast new audiences,” Sam Altman, the chief executive of OpenAI, said in a statement.

Brooks Barnes covers all things Hollywood. He joined The Times in 2007 and previously worked at The Wall Street Journal