Bob Iger says Disney’s $1 billion deal with OpenAI is an ‘opportunity, not a threat’: ‘We’d rather participate than be disrupted by it’

Disney is investing $1 billion in OpenAI and is giving the go-ahead for its iconic characters like Mickey Mouse to be used in the AI short-form video app Sora.

The two companies announced a three-year deal that would bring more than 200 characters to Sora with a period of exclusivity for part of the duration of the deal.

Disney CEO Bob Iger painted the team-up as Disney taking the next step in content with the newest technology and waved away concerns about whether the deal represents a threat to human creators.

“We’ve always viewed technological advances as opportunity, not threat,” Iger said. 

“It’s going to happen regardless, and we’d rather participate in the rather dramatic growth, rather than just watching it happen and essentially being disrupted by it,” he later added.

Iger also noted in an interview with CNBC that as part of the deal, Disney characters can be used in Sora videos, but it does not include rights to likenesses or voices. 

“OpenAI is putting guardrails essentially around how these are used, so that really there’s nothing to be concerned about from a consumer perspective,” he said. “This will be a safe environment and a safe way for consumers to engage with our characters in a new way.”

Iger said the company would also feature some user-gener...