‘Creativity is the new productivity’: Bob Iger explains why Disney chose to be ‘aggressive’
In a historic move that marks a definitive shift in the way major media conglomerates approach artificial intelligence (AI), OpenAI has gone from the company that had unapproved Disney princesses made from its tools to a billion-dollar partnership with the House of Mouse itself. Disney CEO Bob Iger unveiled the deal jointly with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in a television interview with CNBC’s Squawk on the Street, explaining “we’d rather be a part of this pretty spectacular growth, rather than just watch it happen and be essentially disrupted by it.” He also reframed the question of how AI is reshaping entertainment, business, and even work itself: “Someone once told me that creativity is the new productivity, and I think you’re starting to see that more and more. »
The deal, which brings Disney intellectual property to OpenAI’s Sora video generation platform, is structured to balance “aggressive” intellectual property protection with a willingness to embrace inevitable technological disruption, Iger said. Under the terms of the three-year deal, Disney will license approximately 200 characters for use in Sora, allowing users to create short-form videos featuring iconic characters ranging from Mickey Mouse to Star Wars personalities.
Iger presented the partnership not as a concession to AI, but as a necessary – and actually beneficial – evolution for human artists. Indeed, the agreement does not include the name and likeness, nor the voices of the characters. “And so, actually, it doesn’t pose a threat to creators in any way, quite the opposite. I think it honors and respects them, in part because there’s a royalty associated with it.” Iger has repeatedly emphasized that Disney wants to be at the forefront of how technology is reinventing entertainment. “No human generation has ever stood in the way of technological progress, and we have no intention of trying.”
This partnership stands in stark contrast to Disney’s relationships with other tech giants. The same day the OpenAI deal was announced, Disney sent a cease and desist letter to Google regarding alleged intellectual property misuse. Iger explained the divergence in approach by noting that, unlike Google, OpenAI has agreed to “honor, value and respect” Disney content through licensing fees and security guardrails. “We have been aggressive in protecting our intellectual property and going after other companies that have not honored our intellectual property,” Iger said, adding that conversations with Google had not “beared fruit.”
A win-win partnership?
For OpenAI, which is reportedly under pressure from Google, whose Gemini 3 has been praised by AI luminaries such as Salesforce billionaire Marc Benioff, the deal represents a validation of its generative video technology. Altman told CNBC that user demand for Disney characters was “kind of off the charts” and he envisioned a future in which fans could generate personalized content, like a “personalized Buzz Lightyear birthday video” or a personalized lightsaber scene. Altman argued that the partnership would unleash the “latent creativity” of the general public by reducing the skills and effort needed to bring ideas to life.
The collaboration will also extend to Disney’s own streaming platform. Iger revealed plans to integrate “user-requested Sora-generated content” directly into Disney+. He said specifically that Disney “has long wanted to have what we call user-generated content on our platform,” suggesting the partnership is a defensive move against streaming giant YouTube and social media epicenter TikTok, which is partially under the control of the Ellison family which also controls entertainment rival Paramount.
The deal includes undisclosed warrants, giving Disney a financial stake in OpenAI’s success. Iger confirmed the warrants and declined to provide further details. He compared this forward-thinking approach to Disney’s 2005 decision to license shows to iTunes, seeing the OpenAI partnership as the modern equivalent of a “deep wave” of societal change.
Iger revealed that the groundwork for this deal was laid several years ago, saying he first met with Altman in 2022, as he was retiring from Disney, before his return as CEO. Altman gave Iger a “little road map” of where OpenAI was heading, and Disney has been “extremely impressed” with OpenAI’s growth since then, with all of Altman’s 2022 predictions coming true much more quickly than either party had imagined. Iger added that Disney sees great opportunities to license other products from OpenAI in the coming years, which he sees as a huge step forward to “basically accomplish.”[ing] much of what we believe we must accomplish in the years to come.
