Disney-OpenAI deal worries creative industry unions
A major $1bn partnership between Disney and OpenAI has triggered deep concern across the creative industries, with unions warning the deal could reshape how character-based content is created.
The agreement will allow ChatGPT and OpenAI’s video generator Sora to produce images and videos featuring more than 200 Disney-owned characters, including icons from Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and classics like Mickey and Minnie Mouse, News.Az reports, citing BBC.
Sag-Aftra, the global union representing 170,000 media workers, said the deal raises serious questions about the future of human creativity.
“Everyone in the entertainment industry is incredibly worried about what the implications are,” executive director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland told.
He said both companies assured the union that the deal excludes any use of human performers’ likenesses or voices, but added that anxiety remains high:
“Nobody wants to see human creativity given away to AI models.”
Disney CEO Bob Iger called the partnership an “important moment” for the industry, saying the company aims to expand the reach of its storytelling “thoughtfully and responsibly.”
Users will be able to generate Disney-character videos and images in early 2026, though it is unclear how the characters will sound, since talent voices are not part of the agreement.
The deal comes as Hollywood grapples with rapid AI advancements and long-running disputes over digital rights, scans, and voice replication.
The announcement coincides with reports that Disney sent Google a cease-and-desist letter accusing the company of large-scale copyright infringement involving its content. Google has not yet commented.
IP lawyers say the OpenAI–Disney deal signals a new wave of collaborative licensing agreements between major rights holders and AI developers.
UK actors’ union Equity is currently balloting members on whether they should refuse digital body scans without stronger safeguards. The Disney–OpenAI deal, they say, proves the urgency.
“This big-money deal uses recorded material created by professionals, and their rights must be protected,” said Cathy Sweet, Equity’s head of TV and Film.
Sora has previously faced controversy over hyper-realistic deepfakes of deceased public figures. OpenAI paused generation of videos depicting Martin Luther King Jr. after offensive clips surfaced. Similar fake videos featuring JFK, Queen Elizabeth II, and Stephen Hawking have circulated widely.
Families of several public figures have publicly demanded stricter controls.
Meanwhile, Warner Music has launched an AI-music venture after earlier suing the start-up Suno, highlighting the broader industry’s race to adapt to AI’s rapid evolution.
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