Fri, 12 Dec 2025

Fri, 12 Dec 2025 Creative industries 'incredibly worried' about OpenAI-Disney deal

The $1bn deal will let fans generate videos and images of more than 200 Disney characters on ChatGPT and Sora.

* Disney has licensed its characters, including those from Pixar, Marvel and Star Wars, to OpenAI for use in AI tools ChatGPT and Sora.
* The deal, worth $1 billion, will allow users to generate and share pictures and videos of over 200 Disney characters, but excludes human performers' likenesses or voices.
* Sag-Aftra executive director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland expressed "real concern" among creative industry professionals about the implications of AI-generated content.
* Equity trade union is balloting its members on whether they will refuse to be digitally scanned on set to push for stronger AI safeguards.
* OpenAI has faced criticism over its handling of deepfakes, including a pause in generating images of Dr Martin Luther King Jr after "disrespectful" depictions emerged.
* The deal comes amid reports Disney is taking action against Google for copyright infringement and as the entertainment industry grapples with the impact of AI on creative work.
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