The Walt Disney Company today accused Google of copyright infringement on a “massive scale” using AI models to “commercially exploit and distribute” its original content. At the same time as the scathing cease-and-desist letter, Disney announced it’s entering into a partnership with OpenAI.

When ABC suspended Jimmy Kimmel Live! in September, President Donald Trump crowed on social media that the show had been canceled. It wasn’t — Kimmel returned to the air six days later — but during that time, top Disney executives didn’t communicate with the White House.

South Korean crypto tycoon Do Kwon was sentenced to 15 years in prison late yesterday on two counts of fraud. Kwon’s TerraUSD and Luna tokens, which he controlled, collapsed in 2022. That caused $40bn in losses for investors. Kwon admitted in a New York court earlier this year that he knowingly defrauded investors. He pleaded guilty in August.

This week The Walt Disney Company announced it’s making a roughly $1 billion investment in OpenAI and signing a three-year character licensing deal that lets OpenAI’s Sora video generation tool use more than 200 beloved characters from Disney, Pixar, Marvel and Star Wars.

Disney is accusing the tech giant of unauthorized distribution of its copyrighted characters without permission via Gemini AI.

The Writers Guild of America said Disney’s huge licensing deal with OpenAI appears to “sanction” the AI company’s “theft of our work.” “Disney's announcement with OpenAI appears to sanction its theft of our work and cedes the value of what we create to a tech company that has built its business off our backs,

Disney CEO Bob Iger told CNBC that the partnership with OpenAI values creativity and keeps creators safe from replacement while giving fans new opportunities for creativity.

Disney is investing $1 billion in OpenAI and is giving the go-ahead for its iconic characters like Mickey Mouse to be used in the AI short-form video app Sora. The two companies announced a three-year deal that would bring more than 200 characters to Sora with a period of exclusivity for part of the duration of the deal.