Disney accuses Google of ‘massive’ copyright infringement following deal with OpenAI

Disney has accused Google of engaging in copyright infringement on a “massive scale,” claiming its AI models have generated images resembling characters from Frozen, Deadpool, Star Wars, and others, according to a report from Variety. In a cease-and-desist letter sent to Google on Wednesday, Disney demands that the tech giant stop allegedly infringing on its copyrighted works.

Disney sent the notice just one day before announcing a billion-dollar deal with OpenAI, which will allow Sora AI users to create videos using more than 200 characters from Disney, Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars. The AI-generated videos will also appear on Disney Plus, too, which CEO Bob Iger teased last month.

“Google is infringing Disney’s copyrights on a massive scale, by copying a large corpus of Disney’s copyrighted works without authorization to train and develop generative artificial intelligence (‘AI’) models and services,” Disney’s letter says, according to Variety. “Disney will not tolerate the unauthorized commercial exploitation of its copyrighted characters and works by so-called AI services.”

Disney has also sent cease-and-desist letters to Meta and Character.AI in the past.