The Walt Disney Company on Thursday announced an agreement with OpenAI to bring its characters to Sora, a short-form video platform.
The three-year deal will allow videos made with Sora to be available for streaming on Disney+.
According to a news release, Disney said that Sora will be able to generate short, user-prompted social videos. Sora will be able to “draw from more than 200 animated, masked and creature characters” from the catalogs of Disney, Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars."
Breaking: Disney is making a $1 billion investment in OpenAI and will let the AI platform use its characters to make social-media videos https://t.co/DHp9AVhrOh
— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) December 11, 2025
That will include props, costumes, vehicles and “iconic environments” but does not include any talent likenesses or voices.
The deal also means that ChatGPT images will be able to turn a few words into fully generated images in a matter of seconds.
Disney also said it would buy a $1 billion stake in OpenAI and left the door open for additional equity investment.
“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 through generative AI, while respecting and protecting creators and their works,” Disney CEO Robert Iger said in a statement. “Bringing together Disney’s iconic stories and characters with OpenAI’s groundbreaking technology puts imagination and creativity directly into the hands of Disney fans in ways we’ve never seen before, giving them richer and more personal ways to connect with the Disney characters and stories they love.”
Before Disney’s announcement, the biggest studio partnership with an AI company was Lionsgate’s deal in September 2025 with Runway.
“Disney is the global gold standard for storytelling, and we’re excited to partner to allow Sora and ChatGPT Images to expand the way people create and experience great content,” Sam Altman, co-founder and CEO of OpenAI, said in a statement. “This agreement shows how AI companies and creative leaders can work together responsibly to promote innovation that benefits society, respect the importance of creativity, and help works reach vast new audiences.”
Disney said that characters fans will be able to use in their creations are Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Lilo, Stitch, Ariel, Belle, Beast, Cinderella, Baymax, Simba and Mufasa. They can also draw from the characters of “Encanto,” “Frozen,” “Inside Out,” “Moana,” “Toy Story” and others.
From Marvel and Lucasfilms, fans can use animated or illustrated versions of Black Panther, Deadpool, Captain America, Groot, Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, Iron Man, the Mandalorian and others.
Disney’s agreement is a shift from a complaint the company filed in July against a competitor, Midjourney, which it jointly sued with Universal and called a “bottomless pit of plagiarism.”
Midjourney, an AI image generator that has tens of millions of registered users, allows people to create images that “blatantly incorporate and copy” characters owned by the companies, Disney has alleged.
Midjourney has rejected the claim, stating that its actions fall under the umbrella of “fair use.”
Disney and OpenAI announced their deal a day after Disney sent a cease-and-desist letter to Google, accusing the company of “infringing Disney’s copyrights on a massive scale.”
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