Disney is committing $1 billion to OpenAI and has approved the utilization of its well-known figures, such as Mickey Mouse, within the AI-powered short-form video application Sora.
TL;DR
- Disney invests $1 billion in OpenAI, allowing Mickey Mouse and other characters in Sora AI videos.
- The three-year pact introduces over 200 characters to Sora, with Disney gaining warrants for OpenAI stakes.
- Disney CEO Bob Iger views technological advances as opportunities, not threats, for content creation.
- AI-generated Disney content may appear on Disney+, enhancing engagement with younger audiences.
The two firms revealed a pact spanning three years, which will introduce more than 200 characters to Sora, including a phase of sole rights for a portion of the agreement's term.
Disney's chief executive, Bob Iger, characterized the collaboration as Disney advancing its content creation using the latest technological innovations, and he dismissed worries regarding the agreement posing a danger to individuals who create content.
“We’ve always viewed technological advances as opportunity, not threat,” Iger said.
“It’s going to happen regardless, and we’d rather participate in the rather dramatic growth, rather than just watching it happen and essentially being disrupted by it,” he later added.
In a CNBC interview, Iger mentioned that under the agreement, Disney characters are permitted for use in Sora videos, though this doesn't extend to rights concerning their likeness or voices.
“OpenAI is putting guardrails essentially around how these are used, so that really there’s nothing to be concerned about from a consumer perspective,” he said. “This will be a safe environment and a safe way for consumers to engage with our characters in a new way.”
Iger stated that the firm would also showcase some AI-generated material from Sora, created by users, on the Disney+ service, which he believed would be an excellent method to boost interaction among younger audiences.
As part of the agreement, Disney is set to acquire warrants enabling them to purchase further stakes in OpenAI, with Iger indicating that the company will have future prospects to utilize OpenAI's services, such as obtaining licenses.
Beginning last year, OpenAI commenced making Sora accessible to an expanded user base and in September introduced Sora 2, an enhanced iteration of the video creation tool designed with mobile use in mind. The September debut sparked debate due to the application's capacity to produce highly believable and lifelike footage of individuals. In October, OpenAI halted the distribution of AI-generated deepfake videos depicting civil rights advocate Martin Luther King Jr. Following concerns raised by his daughter, Bernice A. King complained regarding their deployment in a “demeaning, disjointed” manner.
Thursday’s deal also comes after Disney sent a cease-and-desist letter to Google for allegedly using its intellectual property to train its AI models and in its services without permission. The company has previously sent similar letters to other companies like Character.ai. Iger told CNBC that Character.ai corrected the issue shortly after and noted that with Google, “the ball is in their court,” and Disney would wait to see how they react to the claim.
Altman, for his part, stated that Sora users have expressed a desire to incorporate Disney characters into their video creations and indicated his hope that their inclusion on the platform might “unleash a sort of whole new way that people use this technology.”
“We have underestimated the amount of latent creativity in the world,” said Altman. “But if you lower the effort, skill, time required to create new things people very quickly are able to bring ideas to life.”
