Disney Pays Billions To AI To Turn Star Wars Into Robot Karaoke
KEY POINTS
- â˘In December 2025, Disney signed a $1 billion, three-year deal with OpenAI to license AI character technology called Sora.
- â˘Various startups including Moonvalley, Wonder Studios, and Metaphysic raised from $1.5 million to $24 million to produce AI tools impacting different film production stages.
- â˘Surveys show mixed audience feelings, with 65% opposed to AI replacing human actors, despite studios pushing AI to make productions faster and cheaper.
In a scene straight out of Sci-Fi meets Shakespeare, Disney inked a $1 billion, three-year licensing deal with OpenAI in December 2025 to become the exclusive big-shot user of Sora, OpenAI's AI character-generating marvel. This after some popcorn-worthy legal squabbles over AI using copyrighted characters. Meanwhile, a parade of Vegas-worthy startups raised nearly $90 million combined saying they're here to revolutionize Hollywood production cyclesâfrom Moonvalley making special effects look less chemically pieced-together, to Wonder Studiosâ UK team creating originals with AI, to deepfake kings Metaphysic who scored $7.5 million. Netflix and Amazon quietly bathed in AI special effects glory, even as people voted 65% against AI replacing actors, because nothing says 'cinema magic' like an algorithm doing Ryan Gosling's job. Investors ate it up, handing over millions for pitch decks promising cheaper, faster, brighter Hollywoodâwhich is to say AI might save the industry because trust me, we're all terrible drivers of our own lives.
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Hollywood sold its soul for a $1 billion AI license, then asked AI to figure out where all the talent went. Itâs like handing your car keys to a blindfolded robot because it promises faster tripsâwelcome to Tinsel Town 2.0, run by algorithms with no union breaks.
Nothing screams 'cinema innovation' like spending a billion to license AI that literally steals from Star Wars fans but whispers 'creative future!' to execs who barely understand VHS.
AI pitching Hollywood like: 'Give me your millions and your IP, Iâll make movies faster and cheaper,' while audiences try to remember what actors look like.
Source: Businessinsider | Published: 1/2/2026 | Author: Lucia Moses
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