Disney is investing $1 billion in OpenAI and will bring characters such as Mickey Mouse, Cinderella and Luke Skywalker to the AI company's Sora video generation tool, in a licensing deal that the two companies announced on Thursday.
At the same time, Disney went after Google, demanding the tech company stop exploiting its copyrighted characters to train its AI systems.
The OpenAI agreement makes the Walt Disney Co. the first major content licensing partner for Sora, which uses generative artificial intelligence to create short videos.
Under the three-year licensing deal, fans will be able to use Sora to generate and share videos based on more than 200 Disney, Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars characters.
AI video generators like Sora have wowed with their ability to quickly create realistic clips based merely on text prompts. But a flood of such videos on social media, including clips depicting celebrities and deceased public figures, has raised worries about “AI slop” crowding out human-created work alongside concerns about misinformation, deepfakes and copyright.
Disney and OpenAI said they are committed to responsible use of AI that protects the safety of users and the rights of creators.
“This agreement shows how AI companies and creative leaders can work together responsibly to promote innovation that benefits society, respect the importance of creativity, and help works reach vast new audiences,” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said.
Disney CEO Robert Iger said the deal will “extend the reach of our storytelling through generative AI, while respecting and protecting creators and their works.”
As part of the deal, some user-generated Sora videos will be made available on the Disney+ streaming service.
Disney will also become a “major customer” of OpenAI and use its technology to build new products, tools, and services. It will also roll out ChatGPT for employees.
Children's advocates, however criticized the move. Josh Golin, executive director of Fairplay, said Disney's decision to partner with OpenAI “is a betrayal of countless children around the world who adore Mickey Mouse, Frozen, and Toy Story. OpenAI claims children are prohibited from using Sora, yet here they are luring young kids to their platform using some of their favorite characters.” Disney, he added, is "aiding and abetting OpenAI’s efforts to addict young children to its unsafe platform and products.”
Also Thursday, Disney sent Google a cease and desist letter, demanding that the tech company stop using Disney content without permission to feed and train its AI models, including its Veo video generator and Imagen and Nano Banana image generators.
It has previously issued similar cease and desist letters to Meta and Character.AI and has filed litigation with NBCUniversal and Warner Bros. Discovery against AI image generator Midjourney and AI company Minimax.
“Well, we have been aggressive at protecting our IP, and we have gone after other companies that have not honored our IP, not respected our IP, not valued it. And this is another example of us doing just that," Iger said in an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street. "We have been in conversation with Google, basically expressing our concerns about this. And, ultimately, because we didn’t really make any progress, the conversations didn’t bear fruit, we felt we had no choice but to send them a cease-and-desist.”
Disney accused Google of “infringing Disney’s copyrights on a massive scale,” according to a copy of the letter dated Dec. 10 seen by The Associated Press. The letter included examples that it says Google's AI systems easily generated, such as characters from Star Wars, The Simpsons, Deadpool and The Lion King.
Google has also been “intentionally amplifying” the problem by making the infringing content available across its many channels including YouTube, Disney said.
Disney said Google hasn't taken any measures to mitigate the problem even though it has been raising the concerns for months. “Google’s mass infringement of Disney’s copyrighted works must stop,” the letter said.
Google did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
FILE - The Disney logo is seen on their store along the Champs Elysees Avenue in Paris on Sept. 20, 2017. (AP Photo/Francois Mori, File)
FILE - Sam Altman, co-founder and CEO of OpenAI, testifies before a Senate committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on May 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
FILE - The OpenAI logo is seen displayed on a cell phone in front of an image on a computer screen generated by ChatGPT's Dall-E text-to-image model, Friday, Dec. 8, 2023, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, file)
NONTHABURI, Thailand (AP) — A student opened fire at a high school outside Bangkok on Friday, killing at least five people and wounding more than 20, according to authorities, who said he also appeared to have killed his two grandparents at the family home earlier in the morning.
The 14-year-old shooter took his own life at the school, officials said.
Five school staff members, including teachers and administrators, died in the shooting around 10 a.m. at Debsirin Nonthaburi School in Nonthaburi province northwest of Bangkok, Deputy Interior Minister Polapee Suwunchwee said at the scene.
The boy also killed his grandparents at the home he shared with them prior to the school shooting, Polapee said.
Bangyai Hospital, about 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the school, said 23 people were wounded, of whom 10 were in critical condition, with most suffering gunshot wounds. Earlier reports gave conflicting casualty numbers.
A witness said students hid inside a classroom while they heard gunshots from another building before police officers knocked on the door and cleared a way for them to leave the building.
Amporn Niamfuang, who owns a restaurant 50 meters (160 feet) from the school, said there was the sound of a single gunshot and then a pause.
“And then there were multiple continuous shots,” Amporn said, recalling the narrow road outside the restaurant filling with fleeing students. “Students were running scared and pouring onto the street. Young girls were holding each other’s hands and crying. I went inside to hide.”
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, speaking after touring the school, confirmed reports that the shooter was 14 and had killed himself. He said the student had shown signs of stress connected to school.
The gun, described by police as small and compact, was legally registered to his grandfather, he said.
About an hour after the shooting, people stood outside comforting one another as police and first responders walked around the co-educational state school, which has an enrollment of about 3,000 students ranging from 12 to 18 years old.
All classes will be suspended between Aug. 10 and Aug. 14 and school staff have been instructed to work from home during that time, the school said.
After the shooting, police went to his home and found both grandparents dead of apparent gunshot wounds, regional police Commander Wattana Yeejeen said.
The student appeared to have shot them before attending school as normal. He waited until classes started and began shooting inside his classroom before walking out and firing more shots, Police spokesperson Trairong Piwpan said.
The boy fired more than 20 shots and police found he still had 30 rounds after shooting himself, he said.
Several family members, including his uncle and sisters of the grandfather who were at the family home while police investigated, said he usually kept to himself and was a good student.
The family members said they were unaware of any troubles he faced at home or school.
Thailand has one of the highest rates of gun ownership in Asia, second only to Pakistan and far surpassing its Southeast Asian neighbors.
Data collected in 2017 by the groups Small Arms Survey and GunPolicy.org in their last extensive international study found civilian gun ownership in Thailand was about 15.1 guns per 100 people, compared with less than one per 100 in neighboring Malaysia.
Thailand had 3.49 deaths by firearms per 100,000 people, according to 2023 statistics published by World Population Review. That puts it well behind parts of Latin America and the Caribbean, but relatively high in Asia. Only the Philippines is higher in Southeast Asia.
In February, a 17-year-old stole a gun from police and opened fire at a public high school in southern Thailand, briefly taking people hostage in a two-hour attack that killed one person and injured two others.
A 14-year-old boy was accused of a 2023 shooting at a major Bangkok shopping mall.
Jintamas Saksornchai in Bangkok and Kaweewit Kaewjinda in Nonthaburi, Thailand, contributed to this report.
Students arrive at Debsirin Nonthaburi School, a day after the shooting at the school, in Nonthaburi province, Thailand Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
A woman lays flowers and offers prayers at Debsirin Nonthaburi School, a day after the shooting at the school in Nonthaburi province, Thailand, on Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Police officers gather at Debsirin Nonthaburi School, a day after the shooting at the school in Nonthaburi province, Thailand , on Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
A coffin containing the body of a victim of Friday's shooting at the Debsirin Nonthaburi School, is brought in a stretcher at a police hospital in Bangkok,Thailand, Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
People offer prayers at the gate of Debsirin Nonthaburi School, a day after the shooting at the school in Nonthaburi province, Thailand, Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
A parent leaves after picking his child after a shooting at the Debsirin Nonthaburi School in Thailand's Nonthaburi province, Friday, Aug. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
First responders and others stand inside after a shooting at the Debsirin Nonthaburi School in Thailand's Nonthaburi province, Friday, Aug. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
A schoolgirl cries outside her school where deaths and injuries were reported after a shooting in Thailand's Nonthaburi province, Friday, Aug. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
A crowd gathers outside a school where deaths and injuries were reported after a shooting in Thailand's Nonthaburi province, Friday, Aug. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
A schoolgirl cries outside her school where deaths and injuries were reported after a shooting in Thailand's Nonthaburi province, Friday, Aug. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
