Disney and OpenAI have signed a three-year licensing and investment deal that will let Sora generate short, user-prompted videos with more than 200 characters from Disney, Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars, the companies said in a joint announcement.
As part of the agreement, Disney will make a $1 billion equity investment in OpenAI and receive warrants to buy additional shares.
Under the license, Sora and ChatGPT Images will be able to create short videos and images using animated, masked and creature characters such as Mickey Mouse, Simba and Darth Vader, plus related costumes, props and environments.
The deal excludes talent likenesses and voices. A curated selection of fan-created Sora videos will stream on Disney+ starting in early 2026, the companies said.
Alongside the license, Disney will become a major OpenAI customer, using its APIs to build new products and experiences, including for Disney+, and deploying ChatGPT for employees.
Both firms said they are committing to “responsible” AI use that protects user safety and the rights of creators, with OpenAI pledging age-appropriate policies and controls to prevent harmful content.
Writers’ groups are less enthusiastic. In a joint statement, the Writers Guild of America East and West said Disney’s announcement with OpenAI “appears to sanction its theft of our work and cedes the value of what we create to a tech company that has built its business off our backs,” and said they will meet with Disney to probe how Sora uses writers’ material.
SAG-AFTRA said in a separate notice that it will closely monitor the deal and its implementation to ensure compliance with contracts and laws protecting image, voice and likeness rights.
The arrangement sets a potential early template for how major rights-holders may license IP into generative AI systems while unions push to keep compensation and control for human creators in the foreground.