Disney Will Now Let You Make AI Slop of Its Characters on Sora

If you've engaged in any sort of doomscrolling over the past year, you've no doubt encountered some wild AI-generated content. While there are plenty of AI video generators out there producing this stuff, one of the most prevalent is OpenAI's Sora, which is particularly adept at generating realistic short-form videos mimicking the content you might find on TikTok or Instagram Reels. These videos can be so convincing at first glance, that people often don't realize what they're seeing is 100% fake. That can be harmless when it's videos of cats playing instruments at midnight, but dangerous when impersonating real people or properties.

It's that last point that I thought would offer some pushback to AI's seemingly exponential growth. These companies have trained their AI models on huge amounts of data, much of which is copyrighted, which means that people are able to generate images and videos of iconic characters like Pikachu, Superman, and Darth Vader. The big AI generators put guardrails on their platforms to try to prevent videos that infringe on copyright, but people find a way around them. As such, corporations have already started suing OpenAI, Google, and other AI companies over this blatant IP theft. (Disclosure: Lifehacker’s parent company, Ziff Davis, filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in April 2025, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)

Disney is handing its characters over to Sora users

But it seems not all companies want to go down this path. Take Disney, as a prime example. On Thursday, OpenAI announced that it had made a three-year licensing agreement with the company behind Mickey Mouse. As part of the deal, Sora users can now generate videos featuring over 200 Disney, Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars characters. The announcement names the following characters and movies specifically:

• Mickey Mouse

• Minnie Mouse

• Lilo

• Stitch

• Ariel

• Belle

• Beast

• Cinderella

• Baymax

• Simba

• Mufasa

• Black Panther

• Captain America

• Deadpool

• Groot

• Iron Man

• Loki

• Thor

• Thanos

• Darth Vader

• Han Solo

• Luke Skywalker

• Leia

• The Mandalorian

• Stormtroopers

• Yoda

• Encanto

• Frozen

• Inside Out

• Moana

• Monsters Inc.

• Toy Story

• Up

• Zootopia

That includes licensed costumes, props, vehicles, and environments. What's more, Disney+ will host a "selection" of these "fan-inspired" Sora videos. (I'll admit, that last point genuinely shocks me.) This does only apply to Disney's visual assets, however, as Sora users won't have access to voice acting. ChatGPT users will also be able to generate images with these characters, so this news doesn't just affect Sora users.

You might think OpenAI is paying Disney a hefty licensing fee here, but it appears to be quite the opposite. Not only is Disney pledging to use OpenAI APIs to build "products, tools, and experiences," it is rolling out ChatGPT to its employees as well. Oh, and the company is making a $1 billion equity investment in OpenAI. (Is that all?)

I know many companies are embracing AI, often in ways I disagree with. But this deal is something else entirely. I'm not sure any Disney executives actually searched for "Sora Disney" on the internet, because right now, you'll find fake AI trailers for Pixar movies filled with racism, sexual content, and generally offensive content—all generated using an app Disney just licensed all of its properties to. OpenAI asserts in its announcement that both companies are committed to preventing "illegal or harmful" content on the platform, but Sora users are already creating harmful content. What kind of content can we expect with carte blanch access to Disney's properties?

Now that Disney's characters are fair game, I can't imagine the absolute slop that some users are going to make here. The only hope I have is in the fact that Disney+ is going to host some of these videos. Staff will have to weed through some garbage to find videos that are actually suitable for the platform. And maybe seeing the "content" that Sora users like to make with iconic characters will be enough for Disney to rethink its plans.

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