OpenAI × The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company and OpenAI announced a three-year partnership making Disney the first major content licensing partner for the Sora video generation platform. [29, 32] As part of the agreement, Disney will make a $1 billion equity investment in OpenAI. [36, 37] The deal allows users to generate short videos and images with a library of over 200 characters from Disney's brands, though it excludes talent likenesses and voices. [45, 54] The deal was later impacted when OpenAI shut down the Sora platform in March 2026, leading to the abandonment of the planned investment. [56]
The asset
A license for more than 200 animated, masked, and creature characters from Disney, Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars for use in the Sora generative AI video platform and ChatGPT Images.
- 200 characters
The record
- Seller status
- Going concern
- Sector
- entertainment and media
- Modalities
- video, images, character IP
- Jurisdiction
- US
- Personal data
- The agreement does not include any talent likenesses or voices. [32, 37]
What it means if you hold data
This was a landmark deal representing the first major licensing of a studio's core character IP to a generative AI video platform, signaling a potential new model for collaboration between Hollywood and AI developers. [51, 54] The subsequent failure of the deal due to the platform's shutdown highlights the volatility and risks inherent in partnerships tied to early-stage AI products. [56]