During The Walt Disney Company’s Q1 FY26 Earnings Call, CEO Bob Iger addressed Disney’s strategic partnership with OpenAI and the company’s plans for artificial intelligence integration across its platforms.
When asked about the OpenAI agreement and deployment of AI-generated content, Iger provided detailed clarification: “What the deal actually covers is a license agreement between ourselves and OpenAI to enable people to prompt Sora to create 30-second videos of about 250 of our characters that do not include a human voice or face. It’s a three-year agreement, and Disney is being paid for it.”
Iger outlined Disney’s approach to implementing this technology: “In addition, we will have the ability to use those videos, those Sora created videos in a curated form on Disney Plus. For some time now, we’ve wanted to add a short-form, user-generated feature to Disney+, similar to what ESPN has introduced with its new offering..”
The CEO explained Disney’s motivation for the partnership: “By allowing us to curate Sora-created content on Disney Plus, this deal jumpstarts our ability to offer short-form video on the platform. Longer term, we hope to use Sora’s tools to let Disney Plus subscribers create short-form videos directly on our service.”
Regarding the overall AI strategy, Iger emphasized: “It’s all I think a positive step in terms of adding a feature that we believe will greatly enhance engagement.”
When questioned about AI’s potential impact on traditional programming, Iger was definitive.
He said, “I don’t see it having any impact at all. We view AI as offering several advantages for the company. One is as a creative tool to support the creative process. Another is productivity, simply becoming more efficient. And the third is connectivity, which means building a more intimate, more effective relationship with consumers and increasing engagement.”
Iger also mentioned the rollout timeline during the call, stating plans to introduce “a curated slate of Sora generated content on Disney Plus following our recently announced licensing agreement with OpenAI.”
However, he declined to provide specific timing, noting: “We’re not being specific about Sora timing. We’re working through all the technical details of that. I imagine it’ll be sometime in fiscal 2026.”
This partnership represents Disney’s entry into AI-generated content.
Editor’s note: Quotes have been edited for clarity and readability.
