Disney Emerges as a New OpenAI Investor

The Walt Disney Company agreed to a $1 billion investment in OpenAI. It also struck a three-year licence agreement, which marked the first major content partner for the AI player’s short-form video platform.

In addition to the $1 billion sum, Walt Disney will receive warrants to purchase additional equity. As part of the agreement, OpenAI’s text-to-video Sora AI model will enable users to generate and share short, user-prompted social videos featuring more than 200 characters from Disney, Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars. The videos will include costumes, props, vehicles, and iconic environments, but exclude talent likenesses and voices, in a move to perhaps stave off protests from actors’ unions.

ChatGPT Images will allow users to create content from Disney’s intellectual property using simple prompts, while selected fan-inspired Sora short-form videos will be available for streaming on Disney+. Sora and ChatGPT Images are expected to launch the fan-inspired videos with Walt Disney’s licensed characters in early 2026.

Walt Disney will use OpenAI’s APIs to build new products and experiences, including for Disney+, and will deploy ChatGPT for its employees. Walt Disney CEO Robert Iger stated the agreement provides the company with new methods for sharing its content with the world through generative AI, but noted it will respect and protect content creators and their works.