Since then, Disney has partnered with OpenAI in a landmark agreement announced on December 11, 2025 that saw Disney sign a three-year deal worth $1 billion. This agreement will empower Sora, OpenAI’s AI video generation platform, to create videos featuring Disney’s iconic characters. The report detailing this partnership was published at 12:53 AM PST on the same day the deal was finalized.
Through the terms of this agreement, Sora will leverage Disney’s treasured characters and stories to create captivating content. More significantly, this seems like a change in Disney’s strategy to use artificial intelligence to improve the company’s media products. Disney’s partnership further demonstrates the company’s dedication to innovation and excellence, as they continue deepening their legacy of high quality storytelling and character creation.
As part of this partnership, Sora will create videos that blend AI technology with Disney’s popular characters, potentially reaching a new audience through digital platforms. This deal is indicative of a broader shift taking place across the entertainment industry. Companies are keen to use AI as part of their creative arts practice.
The announcement comes as the copyright and intellectual property debate roils through the tech industry. These days, Disney comes out guns-blazing whenever someone uses its characters without express consent. They have specifically gone after companies such as Google. In a separate incident, Disney accused Google of massive copyright infringement, stating that “Google operates as a virtual vending machine, capable of reproducing, rendering, and distributing copies of Disney’s valuable library of copyrighted characters and other works on a mass scale,” according to TechCrunch.
Moreover, Disney emphasized concerns regarding Google’s AI services, claiming that “many of the infringing images generated by Google’s AI Services are branded with Google’s Gemini logo, falsely implying that Google’s exploitation of Disney’s intellectual property is authorized and endorsed by Disney.” This assertion creates a vivid picture of the ever-present struggle between the creators of content and the technology platform providers in today’s digital environment.