Disney pulls out of OpenAI deal amid Sora shutdown

Disney walks back on OpenAI deal, saving Star Wars from a deluge of AI slop (for now)

After pledging last year to invest $1 billion in the AI research and deployment company OpenAI, Disney has walked back on the planned three-year licensing deal. This news comes after OpenAI announced the shuttering of its video AI platform Sora, which allowed users to generate video content using many intellectual properties, including Disney's, after the deal. Good news, everyone: Grogu won't be fed through the AI slop machine in any official capacity — yet.

Disney's pledge of financial support to OpenAI came with the promise that iconic characters from properties like Star Wars, Frozen, Tangled, and others would be added to Sora. Now that the app has been shut down for good, Disney has jumped ship.

Disney's decision to allow its intellectual property to be used by Sora in the first place was a shock for many fans. Now that the deal is over, those same fans have taken to social media platforms like X to express their delight at Sora going under. It's a sentiment I can't help but echo. Despite the agreement stating that Disney and OpenAI would be selecting which fan-inspired Sora "short form videos" would be available to stream on its Disney Plus platform, I've seen enough of these Sora products to know that just because a video isn't officially chosen by Disney, it doesn't mean it won't find its way online.

Saying that some of the Pixar-style fan video trailers produced with Sora are disturbing doesn't do them justice. In one called Glory Hole, a young girl befriends a gigantic worm that breaks into her bedroom through a hole in the wall. The narrator says that this young girl will soon discover “the biggest d—” before the sentence is cut off. Another video shows American serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer in an animated Pixar-style as he hunts his victims. Worse still, these videos are popular on YouTube, one of the most accessible video platforms worldwide. One video, ranking the various Disney and Pixar trailers made for Sora, has over 9.5 million views.

The thought of characters like Grogu, a childlike alien who stars in the upcoming Star Wars film The Mandalorian & Grogu, being used in similar ways makes my stomach churn. It’s a solace that this type of product won't be associated with Disney anymore, at least in an official capacity. However, it is only a matter of time before Disney sets its sights on a new AI partner.

“As the nascent AI field advances rapidly, we respect OpenAI’s decision to exit the video generation business and to shift its priorities elsewhere,” a Disney spokesperson revealed. “We appreciate the constructive collaboration between our teams and what we learned from it, and we will continue to engage with AI platforms to find new ways to meet fans where they are while responsibly embracing new technologies that respect IP and the rights of creators.” Enjoy your innocent childhood as long as you can, Grogu.