OpenAI:Video AI Sora allowed to animate Disney, Marvel, and Star Wars characters
OpenAI and Disney have agreed that the video AI Sora will soon be allowed to animate characters from animated films, as well as from Marvel and Star Wars.
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US media conglomerate Disney is licensing more than 200 characters for use in the video generator Sora and is also investing one billion US dollars in the AI company OpenAI, which is responsible for it. The two companies announced this, stating that it concerns characters from Disney as well as animated or illustrated versions of characters from the Marvel universe, Pixar films, and Star Wars. In short, users will be able to generate short videos with the characters using a few words, but explicitly excluded are videos based on actors or their voices. Furthermore, Disney will receive exclusive access to OpenAI's AI technology, for example, for the creation of content for Disney+.
For Disney, this step represents a reversal from its previous approach to its brands. Unauthorized uses of Mickey Mouse & Co. were always pursued, and 20 years ago, the company also exerted strong influence on a legislative change in the USA that enormously extended copyright terms there. Just last summer, Disney sued the individuals responsible for the AI image generator Midjourney because it could be used to create depictions of copyrighted characters. The deal with OpenAI now means that Disney is partially relinquishing control over its characters, as what exactly the AI will produce in response to prompts is unpredictable. The rollout is expected to begin in "early 2026," and a selection of the content is even slated to appear on the streaming service Disney+.
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"Disney is the gold standard for storytelling," and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is pleased that this will now also be possible with Sora and ChatGPT. The agreement shows how AI companies and creatives can work together responsibly. The announcement does not contain a complete list of all characters that Disney is releasing for Sora, but numerous well-known names are mentioned: in addition to Mickey and Minnie Mouse, as well as Lilo, Stitch, Ariel, Simba, Mufasa, and characters from Encanto, Frozen, Inside Out, Up, Zootopia, and many more, it also includes Black Panther, Captain America, Deadpool, Groot, Iron Man, Loki, Thor, Thanos, Darth Vader, Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, Leia, the Mandalorian, Stormtroopers, and Yoda.
(mho)
