Disney Strikes $1 Billion Deal With OpenAI, Bringing Its Characters to Sora

The Walt Disney Company has reached a landmark agreement with OpenAI that will bring characters from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars into Sora, the company's short-form video generator. The three-year deal lets fans create their own social videos using more than 200 animated, masked, and creature characters, and also includes a $1 billion Disney equity investment in OpenAI along with warrants for additional shares.



With the new license, Sora will be able to generate short, user-prompted videos that draw from Disney's library of costumes, props, vehicles, and iconic environments. ChatGPT Images will support the same set of characters, allowing users to create still images with simple text prompts. The agreement does not include talent likenesses or voices.


A curated selection of fan-created Sora videos will be available to watch on Disney+. Disney will also become a major OpenAI customer, using the company's APIs to build new experiences for Disney+ and deploying ChatGPT internally for employees.

This collaboration also brings together two companies that are increasingly tied to Apple. Disney remains a core content partner for Vision Pro, and former Apple COO Jeff Williams was recently nominated to join Disney's board. OpenAI, meanwhile, continues expanding inside the Apple ecosystem with new features like its ChatGPT Atlas browser for Mac.

Both companies emphasized safety as a core part of the agreement. OpenAI has committed to maintaining strong controls around age-appropriate use, preventing harmful or illegal content, and protecting the rights of creators and individuals. Disney and OpenAI say the partnership is intended to support responsible AI development while expanding what's possible for fans who want to interact with Disney's characters in new ways.

The new Sora and ChatGPT Images features using Disney IP are expected to roll out in early 2026.


You can download Sora by OpenAI from the App Store for free.

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