Users of OpenAI's video generation app will soon be able to see their faces alongside characters from animated films from Marvel, Pixar, Star Wars and Disney, according to a joint announcement by the startup and Disney on Thursday. Maybe you and Lightning McQueen and Iron Man could be dancing together in the Mos Eisley Cantina.
Sora is an app created by OpenAI, the same company that developed ChatGPT, that allows users to generate up to 20 seconds of video through short text prompts. The startup has previously tried to distance Sora's work from unauthorized copyrighting, with little success, prompting threats of lawsuits by rights holders.
Disney has announced that it will invest $1 billion in OpenAI and license nearly 200 of its iconic characters, from R2-D2 to Stitch, for users to play with OpenAI's video-generating apps under a three-year deal likely worth more than that huge amount.
Amid growing anxiety in Hollywood about the impact AI will have on the lives of writers, actors, visual effects artists, and other creators, Disney emphasized that its deal with OpenAI does not cover the likeness or voice of its talent.
The announcement was positioned as a special opportunity to empower fans.
Consider the “fan-inspired Sora video shorts,” as Disney calls them in a press release. This looks like an AI-generated version of the photo I took with Princess Jasmine at Disney World. OpenAI included screenshots of these types of videos in its press release, showing how the companies expect people to use the app's new cast. Sora already allows users to generate videos that include their own likenesses.
Disney CEO Bob Iger said the licensing agreement “puts imagination and creativity directly into the hands of Disney fans in a way never seen before.”
Some fan-made videos may even be shown on the Disney+ streaming service, offering a chance to reach a wider audience. The move appears designed to compete with endless feeds of TikTok and YouTube Shorts, which themselves often include clips from popular TV shows and movies.
