Disney limits OpenAI exclusivity as AI strategy takes shape

Disney’s newly announced partnership with OpenAI comes with a notable limitation: exclusivity lasts for just one year. Disney CEO Bob Iger confirmed to CNBC that while the broader licensing agreement runs for three years, Disney is only contractually tied to OpenAI alone during the first year. After that, the company is free to strike similar deals with other AI firms, effectively keeping its options open as generative AI adoption accelerates.

The agreement gives OpenAI a rare and highly valuable content partner. Through the deal, users of OpenAI’s Sora video generation platform will be able to create content using more than 200 characters from Disney’s portfolio, including properties from Disney Animation, Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars. For now, Sora is the only AI platform with legal access to these characters, giving OpenAI a temporary but significant competitive advantage in AI-generated video.

For Disney, the partnership appears designed as a controlled experiment rather than a long-term lock-in. By limiting exclusivity to a single year, Disney can evaluate how its intellectual property performs in a generative AI environment, assess user reception, and monitor potential risks to brand integrity. If the partnership proves successful, Disney can expand its AI strategy by licensing content to other platforms or negotiating new terms from a stronger position.

Iger framed the move as consistent with Disney’s historical approach to technological change. Speaking to CNBC, he said the company does not intend to resist technological advances, even when they disrupt existing business models. Instead, Disney prefers to participate directly, shaping how new technologies intersect with its brands rather than reacting after the fact.

The timing of the OpenAI announcement also highlights Disney’s careful line between collaboration and enforcement. On the same day the deal was revealed, Disney reportedly sent a cease-and-desist letter to Google, accusing the company of copyright infringement related to AI systems. Google neither confirmed nor denied the claims but said it would engage with Disney on the matter.

Together, the moves suggest Disney is not broadly opening its IP to AI companies, but selectively testing partnerships while aggressively defending its rights. The one-year exclusivity window with OpenAI reflects a strategy focused on learning fast, limiting exposure, and keeping leverage as the AI content market evolves.