Disney quaffs the Kool-Aid with a $1 billion investment in OpenAI that will see its most iconic characters used to generate AI slop

Disney has announced a deal that will see the House of Mouse invest $1 billion in OpenAI, as well as allow many of its characters to be used in ChatGPT and video tool Sora. This is the first such licensing deal between one of the major studios and an AI company, and comes less than a month after Disney CEO Bob Iger told shareholders AI is an "engagement engine" and Disney+ is soon gonna be crammed with it.

To put the cash to one side for a moment, over 200 Disney characters will now be used in OpenAI's products. This includes Mickey Mouse as well as more recent characters like Moana, and then there's Star Wars (the likes of Luke Skywalker included), Marvel, and the Pixar catalogue. Hey, has anyone here seen Wall-E?

There is one very notable caveat to the agreement: Disney specifies it "does not include any talent likenesses or voices." There are a host of obvious reasons why: primarily the likely objection of said talent, such as Mark Hamill, and the inevitable battle for rights that would ensue.

Plus you get into a real grey area with characters like Mickey, who was for decades voiced by Walt Disney himself. I appreciate the following sentence may make some raise a cartoon eyebrow, but Bob Iger has previously given the impression of being fiercely protective of Disney's heritage and creative integrity.

In the light of today's announcement, here's a memory about Iger and contemporary observation from ex-Microsoft exec and father of the Xbox Seamus Blackley.

I remember doing the deal for Epic Mickey, and Bob Iger shooting laser beams out his eyes at me in the Disney dining room. “Don’t let this video game fuck up Mickey.” Oh well. That’s over.

— @seamus.bsky.social (@seamus.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2025-12-12T00:13:41.831Z

We know exactly what people do when they are given AI to exploit: many make it do the most fucked-up thing they can think of. Who knows what kind of guard rails OpenAI is building into the use of Disney properties but, if we suddenly get a load of fascist Mickey videos where he cheerfully denies the Holocaust, then colour me unsurprised.

That, of course, is not the attitude taken by Iger. "The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence marks an important moment for our industry," Iger said, though I am kinda wondering if he used ChatGPT to draft this statement because: "Through this collaboration with OpenAI we will thoughtfully and responsibly extend the reach of our storytelling."

I don't think "responsible" in any form is a word that should be used in the context of OpenAI, which recently had to pause Sora's ability to generate what it admitted were "disrespectful" likenesses of the late civil rights leader Dr Martin Luther King Jr engaged in degrading activities. More widely Zelda Williams, daughter of the late Robin Williams, absolutely ethered AI-generated videos of her father, calling the whole culture of it "making disgusting, over-processed hotdogs out of the lives of human beings."

OpenAI is also currently facing multiple lawsuits including one from the parents of a teen who killed himself after ChatGPT allegedly encouraged the act.

Anyway. Hakuna matata: what a wonderful phrase. OpenAI's tools will begin to incorporate Disney's characters in "early 2026" and, per OpenAI's announcement, the broad guidelines are:

• As part of this three-year licensing agreement, Sora will be able to generate short, user-prompted social videos that can be viewed and shared by fans, drawing on more than 200 Disney, Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars characters.
• Agreement will make a selection of these fan-inspired Sora short form videos available to stream on Disney+.
• Disney and OpenAI affirm a shared commitment to responsible use of AI that protects the safety of users and the rights of creators.
• Alongside the licensing agreement, Disney will become a major customer of OpenAI, using its APIs to build new products, tools, and experiences, including for Disney+, and deploying ChatGPT for its employees.
• As part of the agreement, Disney will make a $1 billion equity investment in OpenAI, and receive warrants to purchase additional equity.

Well, sure sounds like a fun time to be a Disney employee. There are wider questions that this deal raises, beyond taste, such as how exactly performers and creatives are going to be compensated when their performances switch from steak to sausagemeat.

Such a deal reinforces "exactly why our members are fighting for AI protections," Cathy Sweet of Equity, the entertainment trade union, told the BBC. "The recorded material that will be sold on as part of this eye-watering big money deal are the result of creatives' professional work, and their rights must be protected."

Who knows: maybe someone just needs the right prompt.

Best PC build 2025

1. Best CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D

2. Best motherboard: MSI MAG X870 Tomahawk WiFi

3. Best RAM: G.Skill Trident Z5 RGB 32 GB DDR5-7200

4. Best SSD: WD_Black SN7100

5. Best graphics card: AMD Radeon RX 9070

👉Check out our list of guides👈