Inside Disney's $1 billion, character licensing OpenAI deal
Walt Disney with one of the world’s most recognisable ‘celebrities’ ‒ his creation, Mickey Mouse.
Image: Supplied / Disney
Disney is to take a $1 billion stake in OpenAI – the biggest investment yet by a major Hollywood studio in an AI model developer – and license over 200 characters so users can create their own animated videos.
Graphic breaks down OpenAI’s complicated ownership and valuation.
Image: Graphic News
Disney is to take a $1 billion stake in OpenAI and has agreed to license its iconic animated characters, including Mickey Mouse, to OpenAI so that users can create their own Disney animated videos.
In the new deal, OpenAI’s Sora AI video-generating smartphone app will have access to more than 200 Disney-owned characters from its own animated features to those from Marvel, Pixar and the Star Wars universe.
The House of Mouse will also be able to curate Sora videos on its own Disney+ streaming platform.
Interestingly, the deal does not cover any talent likenesses or their voices – clearly a move aimed at placating actors unions unhappy with the way AI is developing in the entertainment industry.
Graphic News