In an earnings call on Thursday, The Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger told investors that the company is looking into ways to bring more interactivity and customization options to Disney+ subscribers … possibly including Generative AI.
While nothing was formally announced, Iger hinted that the Mouse House is in talks with GenAI companies about tools that would let Disney+ users to generate and share content based on Disney-owned IP, which range from its animated classics to modern blockbusters, the Pixar catalog, Marvel and Star Wars.
Iger stated, “AI is going to give us the ability to provide users of Disney+ with a much more engaged experience, including the ability for them to create user-generated content.” Additional details about the proposed toolset or which tech companies were discussing these options with Disney were not revealed.
The news comes as Disney joins with other major studios including Warner Bros. and Universal in copyright infringements against GenAI companies like Midjourney. On the earnings call, Iger noted that potential partnerships with an AI outfit aligns with the “imperative for [Disney] to protect our IP with this new technology.”
As for what the creator side of the animation industry, which is increasingly wary of the impact of AI on artists’ jobs, thinks about the possibility of this AI integration, one comment from Dana Terrace (The Owl House, Knights of Guinevere) has been circulating across social platforms:
[Source: NPR]
