Disney has signed a three-year licensing agreement with OpenAI: more than 200 characters from the Marvel, Star Wars, and Pixar universes will officially appear in image and video generation tools in Sora and ChatGPT, and the media holding is simultaneously investing $1 billion in the AI developer.
Disney has signed a three-year licensing agreement with OpenAI: more than 200 characters from the Marvel, Star Wars, and Pixar universes will officially appear in image and video generation tools in Sora and ChatGPT, and the media holding is simultaneously investing $1 billion in the AI developer.
According to Engadget, the deal gives OpenAI’s models licensed access to Disney’s signature visuals, including costumes, locations, vehicles, and props. Users will be able to mention characters like Darth Vader, Buzz Lightyear, or Mickey Mouse directly in prompts to receive images and videos inspired by the franchises. The first Disney-enabled capabilities are planned to launch in early 2026.
At the same time, the agreement clearly limits the most sensitive area - live actors. Sora and ChatGPT will not be able to reproduce the voices or realistic appearance of artists, so users will not get a "digital" Scarlett Johansson or other stars. We are talking about animated and illustrated versions of the characters, which is important against the backdrop of disputes in Hollywood over the use of AI and the digitization of actors without their consent.
A separate block of the partnership concerns fan content. Sora users will be able to create fan videos based on Disney motifs, and the company plans to show selected videos on Disney+. Thus, the studio not only legalizes some of the fan art, but also receives a controlled channel for its distribution instead of chaotic distribution on the network.
Disney will also become an OpenAI corporate customer: the company plans to use the ChatGPT API and other models to develop internal tools, new products, and user services. In parallel, the media holding will invest $1 billion in OpenAI and get the opportunity to buy additional shares in the future - against the background of the fact that OpenAI has switched to a classic profit model and is preparing for a potential IPO.
This is a signal to the market that large IP owners are looking for not only prohibitive but also contractual formats for working with generative AI. If the Disney–OpenAI case proves successful, similar licensing packages could become the typical way in which franchises like Marvel or Star Wars legally “enter” models like Sora and ChatGPT, rather than just becoming a reason for lawsuits and blocking.
Previously, dev.ua wrote about how Hollywood studios filed a lawsuit against the developer of generative artificial intelligence Midjourney, claiming that the company's tool creates "countless" copies of characters, including Darth Vader from Star Wars, Elsa from Frozen, and the Minions from Despicable Me.
