Disney Partners With OpenAI

Image in Unsplash

Disney announced on Thursday that it would invest one billion dollars in OpenAI as part of a three-year partnership. They will be integrating more than two hundred characters from Disney, Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars franchises into Sora, OpenAI's video generation tool.

The partnership is a significant moment in the evolution of artificial intelligence and intellectual property. Disney, instead of restricting access to its characters, is in fact collaborating with an AI company to make those characters available for AI-generated video creation.

Recognition from one of the world's largest entertainment companies that the future of content creation will involve AI, is a big thing. And it makes sense, because the most advantageous position is to be an active participant in that future rather than attempting to defend against it.

The three-year deal also includes provisions for Disney to deploy OpenAI's technology across its products and for employees to use ChatGPT in their workflow. 

The financial commitment of one billion dollars signals confidence that Sora and similar video generation tools will generate good returns for Disney, either through licensing revenue or through efficiency in internal content production.

Disney probably believes that video generation AI will become a core tool in content creation within the three-year timeframe, and that having early integration with Disney assets will position Sora as the dominant video generation tool for creators who want to use recognizable intellectual property.