Billion-dollar OpenAI deal allows users to make content with Disney characters
If you’ve ever wanted to conjure up a scenario between yourself, Han Solo and the crew from Zootopia, you’re in luck.
The Walt Disney Company has reached a licensing agreement with OpenAI that brings Disney characters and images to Sora, the artificial intelligence company’s short-form-video generator. According to a joint statement released by the two companies, the three-year licensing agreement will allow people to create and share videos using “more than 200” animated characters from Disney, Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars.
Notably, the statement adds “the agreement does not include any talent likeness or voices.”
As a part of this agreement, Disney will invest $1 billion into OpenAI and become a “major customer” of the company.
Fairplay, the non-profit advocacy group dedicated to reducing children’s screen time, issued a statement saying the Disney OpenAI agreement “betrays kids.”
“OpenAI claims children are prohibited from using Sora, yet here they are luring young kids to their platform using some of their favorite characters. Shame on the ‘House of Mouse’ for aiding and abetting OpenAI’s efforts to addict young children to its unsafe platform and products,” the statement reads.
Disney and OpenAI say in their statement that the two companies share a commitment to protecting the rights of creators while “maintaining robust controls to prevent the generation of illegal or harmful content.”
Sora users will be able to take advantage of the agreement starting in 2026.
In the world’s driest desert, Chile freezes its future to protect plants
Tucked away in a remote desert town, a hidden vault safeguards Chile's most precious natural treasures. From long-forgotten flowers to endangered crops.
At a clown school near Paris, failure is the lesson
For decades, students at the Ecole Philippe Gaulier have been paying to bomb onstage. The goal isn't laughs — it's learning how to take the humiliation and keep going.
Iran’s supreme leader warns any US attack would spark ‘regional war’
Iran's supreme leader warned Sunday that any attack by the United States would spark a "regional war" in the Mideast, further escalating tensions as President Donald Trump has threatened to militarily strike the Islamic Republic.
Minnesota citizens detained by ICE are left rattled, even weeks later
The number of immigration agents in Minnesota may be reduced, but they'll leave leave behind a changed community, including many U.S. citizens questioned and detained in recent weeks.
Gaza border crossing buzzes with activity after years of near-complete closure
Reopening the border crossing is a key step as the Israel-Hamas ceasefire moves ahead.
Democrat Taylor Rehmet wins a reliably Republican Texas state Senate seat, stunning GOP
Democrat Taylor Rehmet won a special election for the Texas state Senate on Saturday, flipping a reliably Republican district that President Donald Trump won by 17 points in 2024.
