OpenAI’s billion-dollar Disney deal puts Mickey Mouse and Marvel in Sora

A new three-year licensing agreement announced between Disney and ChatGPT operator OpenAI will allow the Sora video generator to create “user-prompted social videos” that feature more than 200 characters from Disney, Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars. “The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence marks an important moment for our industry, and through this collaboration with OpenAI we will thoughtfully and responsibly extend the reach of our storytelling through generative AI, while respecting and protecting creators and their works,” said Disney CEO Bob Iger.

According to OpenAI’s blog post announcing the deal:

Sora will be able to generate short, user-prompted social videos that can be viewed and shared by fans, drawing from a set of more than 200 animated, masked and creature characters from Disney, Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars, including costumes, props, vehicles, and iconic environments. In addition, ChatGPT Images will be able to turn a few words by the user into fully generated images in seconds, drawing from the same intellectual property. The agreement does not include any talent likenesses or voices.

The list of characters accessible to OpenAI’s generators includes Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Lilo, Stitch, Ariel, Belle, Beast, Cinderella, Baymax, Simba, Mufasa, Black Panther, Captain America, Deadpool, Groot, Iron Man, Loki, Thor, Thanos, Darth Vader, Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, Leia, the Mandalorian, Stormtroopers, Yoda, and many more.

There’s also a $1 billion investment from Disney in OpenAI with the option to invest more, a plan to deploy ChatGPT for Disney employees as it becomes a “major customer” of OpenAI’s APIs across its businesses, and the companies say that Sora-generated AI slop will be available for viewing on Disney Plus next year:

Under the license, fans will be able to watch curated selections of Sora-generated videos on Disney+, and OpenAI and Disney will collaborate to utilize OpenAI’s models to power new experiences for Disney + subscribers, furthering innovative and creative ways to connect with Disney’s stories and characters. Sora and ChatGPT Images are expected to start generating fan-inspired videos with Disney’s multi-brand licensed characters in early 2026.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is also quoted in the statement, saying “This agreement shows how AI companies and creative leaders can work together responsibly to promote innovation that benefits society, respect the importance of creativity, and help works reach vast new audiences.”