Disney's Next Phase

Disney throws in the towel and embraces AI. OpenAI is allowed to play with Mickey Mouse, Darth Vader and the entire Disney crew, who are now available in Sora. In return, Disney+ can stream AI-generated videos. And a listening tip: The man who wants to build a start-up solely using AI agents.

This is Kludder of the week!

Disney has an uncanny ability to emerge even stronger from everything that has happened in its 102-year life. The agreement with OpenAI marks a new step on the journey for Mickey Mouse and the gang.

This evening brought the news that Disney and OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT and Sora, have struck a deal. This means OpenAI gets rights to generate over 200 beloved characters from the Disney universe from 2026 onwards. Talk about a Christmas present!

Darth Vader, Elsa, Donald Duck and Pluto are heading full-speed for the AI-sphere. On the outside, this might look like a perfectly ordinary partnership agreement. One that could have been met with a shrug and nothing more. But this agreement is a sign of something bigger.

Those of you who read this article from July will probably remember that Hollywood and the film industry are facing a crossroads. Disney has previously sued Midjourney, the AI company specialising in image generation. Disney - and Universal - believe that Midjourney has trained its models on copyrighted material. The agreement with OpenAI may indicate that Disney are realising the AI-battle is lost. Whilst Midjourney has been sued on the basis of what material has been used to train the models (i.e. what goes into the machine), this agreement is about what's churned out at the other end.

In other words; for Disney it's all about retaining control of how the characters are used.

In 2023, researcher in machine learning and copyright Matthew Sag wrote a research paper about what he called "the Snoopy problem". The problem is that the more abstractly a copyrighted work is protected, the greater the likelihood that a generative AI model will copy it. He believes the problem explains why it's easy to get AI models to infringe copyright-protected characters that have "a strong visual component", such as Mickey Mouse, Batman or the titular Snoopy.

AI companies and industries with copyrighted material are beginning to understand, and accept, the fact that neither party will achieve an absolute victory when it comes to the question of fair use for AI training. - Matthew Sag.

The Disney deal can be viewed as an "I told you so" moment for Sag, who has long believed that these types of agreements will force themselves through.

Smart Manoeuvre

For OpenAI's part, the deal can propel them ahead of their competitors on the social media scene like X and Meta. In September Sam Altman rolled out Sora, the social medium that lets you AI-generate videos of yourself and your friends. It's not hard to imagine how the Disney characters will be used in funny Christmas videos; Darth Vader dancing around a Christmas tree, or Mickey blowing a kiss at the camera. Just for you.

As part of the deal, Disney has almost certainly ensured that the characters cannot be misused to create violent content, learning from past mistakes; like what happened in May this year.

We need look back no further than May, when Darth Vader made his entrance on the popular online game Fortnite. Vader had an AI-generated voice that players could speak with. It took no more than half an hour before the voice, which was trained on the deceased actor James Earl Jones, repeated swear words:

See You on Disney+

If Sora will soar and become the new app everyone doom scrolls on, remains to be seen. But as part of the deal, selected, user-created Sora videos will be made available on the streaming platform Disney+, according to an OpenAI press release.

That means you can scroll even more AI-generated videos both on your phone and on the TV!

In return, Disney has received shares in OpenAI worth a billion dollars which - if I'm being honest - is considered small change in this economy.

Even so, Disney has always been ahead of the curve. It started with cartoons, then Disneyworld arrived and now the corporation owns one of the largest streaming platforms. The Mouse House has admitted that AI is here to stay. This opens the door for deals of a similar kind in the future. Perhaps we'll see Aardman Animation's Wallace & Gromit on an AI platform in a few years?

One thing's certain: If I owned a well-known cartoon character, I'd brace myself for a bidding war.

The AI Agents' Start-up

Tech podcast Uncanny Valley (recommended) had an interview last week with Evan Ratliff. He has taken Anthropic's CEO - and Sam Altman - at their word. They believe that the first company run by just one person and valued at a billion dollars is approaching - thanks to AI. Ratliff wants to be the first to achieve it.

In the interview, Ratliff talks about all the frustrations, joys and breakthroughs he experiences on his journey. The episode lasts half an hour and is available on all streaming platforms.

What Happens When Your Coworkers Are AI Agents

In this episode of “Uncanny Valley,” we talk to writer Evan Ratliff about how he created a small startup made entirely of AI employees—and what his findings reveal about the reality of an agentic future.

WIREDLauren Goode