Disney Ends $1B OpenAI Investment After Sora's Surprise Closure. What's Next? (deadline.com) 37
Just six days ago — and 30 minutes after a Disney-OpenAI meeting about a project with Sora — Disney's team was "blindsided" with the news Sora was being discontinued, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters, describing OpenAI's move as "a big rug-pull."
Even some Sora employees were surprised by the cancellation. It was just 14 weeks ago Disney announced a $1 billion investment in OpenAI's AI-powered video generation tool — plus a three-year licensing deal. But that deal "never closed," Reuters adds, citing two other people familiar with the matter, "and no money changed hands." (Although the two sides are still "discussing if there is another way they can partner or invest with one another, one of the people familiar with the matter said.")
But Variety wonders if the end of the Sora deal is "a blessing in disguise" for Disney: Before Disney's officially sanctioned AI-generated versions of Mickey Mouse, Darth Vader, Baby Yoda, Deadpool and more debuted in OpenAI's Sora, the AI company abruptly pulled the plug on the video app...
[M]any aficionados of Disney's franchises were not, in fact, excited about what Sora's video generator might do to the likes of the Avengers superheroes or the characters from Frozen or Moana. And despite [departed Disney CEO Bob] Iger's bullishness on the Sora deal, other Disney execs were said to be concerned that going into business with OpenAI would expose the Magic Kingdom's crown jewels to the risk of being turned into so much AI slop, according to industry sources. Hollywood unions — for which AI adoption has been a hot-button issue — weren't thrilled about the Disney-Sora deal either. "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," the Writers Guild of America said in December... [S]ources say, Disney was encountering roadblocks in getting the OK from voice actors for the Sora pact...
At least publicly, Disney says it is still looking at ways it can tap into the AI ecosystem. The company, in a statement Tuesday, said, "we will continue to engage with AI platforms to find new ways to meet fans where they are while responsibly embracing new technologies that respect IP and the rights of creators." But at this point, Disney may decide that "meeting fans where they are" means keeping its beloved and world-famous characters away from the AI machinery.
Or, as Gizmodo puts it, "Disney Says It Will Find Ways to Peddle Slop Elsewhere After Pulling Out of OpenAI Deal."
But Deadline sees the deal's collapses as a lost opportunity: The OpenAI partnership was a template on which to build, potentially allowing for other deals that end the exploitation of human creativity by unscrupulous AI models. It was also the kind of partnership that was palatable for the Human Artistry Campaign and Creators Coalition on AI, lobby groups that have been critical of tech business models and command support from A-listers including Scarlett Johansson, Cate Blanchett and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
Dr. Moiya McTier, an advisor to the Human Artistry Campaign, puts it this way: Part of the problem is getting "artsy people and the techie people to talk." OpenAI sinking Sora will not make these discussions easier. It's a move that starkly exposes Hollywood's vulnerability to the capriciousness of big tech.
Even some Sora employees were surprised by the cancellation. It was just 14 weeks ago Disney announced a $1 billion investment in OpenAI's AI-powered video generation tool — plus a three-year licensing deal. But that deal "never closed," Reuters adds, citing two other people familiar with the matter, "and no money changed hands." (Although the two sides are still "discussing if there is another way they can partner or invest with one another, one of the people familiar with the matter said.")
But Variety wonders if the end of the Sora deal is "a blessing in disguise" for Disney: Before Disney's officially sanctioned AI-generated versions of Mickey Mouse, Darth Vader, Baby Yoda, Deadpool and more debuted in OpenAI's Sora, the AI company abruptly pulled the plug on the video app...
[M]any aficionados of Disney's franchises were not, in fact, excited about what Sora's video generator might do to the likes of the Avengers superheroes or the characters from Frozen or Moana. And despite [departed Disney CEO Bob] Iger's bullishness on the Sora deal, other Disney execs were said to be concerned that going into business with OpenAI would expose the Magic Kingdom's crown jewels to the risk of being turned into so much AI slop, according to industry sources. Hollywood unions — for which AI adoption has been a hot-button issue — weren't thrilled about the Disney-Sora deal either. "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," the Writers Guild of America said in December... [S]ources say, Disney was encountering roadblocks in getting the OK from voice actors for the Sora pact...
At least publicly, Disney says it is still looking at ways it can tap into the AI ecosystem. The company, in a statement Tuesday, said, "we will continue to engage with AI platforms to find new ways to meet fans where they are while responsibly embracing new technologies that respect IP and the rights of creators." But at this point, Disney may decide that "meeting fans where they are" means keeping its beloved and world-famous characters away from the AI machinery.
Or, as Gizmodo puts it, "Disney Says It Will Find Ways to Peddle Slop Elsewhere After Pulling Out of OpenAI Deal."
But Deadline sees the deal's collapses as a lost opportunity: The OpenAI partnership was a template on which to build, potentially allowing for other deals that end the exploitation of human creativity by unscrupulous AI models. It was also the kind of partnership that was palatable for the Human Artistry Campaign and Creators Coalition on AI, lobby groups that have been critical of tech business models and command support from A-listers including Scarlett Johansson, Cate Blanchett and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
Dr. Moiya McTier, an advisor to the Human Artistry Campaign, puts it this way: Part of the problem is getting "artsy people and the techie people to talk." OpenAI sinking Sora will not make these discussions easier. It's a move that starkly exposes Hollywood's vulnerability to the capriciousness of big tech.
Well it's obvious (Score:2)
Sam Altman is a big Steve Miller fan [youtu.be].
Re: (Score:2)
Look at his stream... https://slashdot.org/~eadon-co... [slashdot.org] This is either a bot, or a loBOTomised individual.
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Then whoever created the bot can do everyone a favor and kill themselves.
Re:Disney's WAR on Men, White culture, and familie (Score:4, Interesting)
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Some people are like that: Complete failures at reality perception.
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Look at his stream... https://slashdot.org/~eadon-co... [slashdot.org] This is either a bot, or a loBOTomised individual.
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Interesting. Now /. is not important enough for somebody to get paid to push this crap. Hence I think deeply mentally defective person with delusions of superiority. You know, like the a bit more extreme conservatives. I hear some of them even claim these days that the war with Iran is a good thing and that of course the US will win and everything will be fine afterwards. No actual expert has stated something even remotely like that as the best-case scenario.
The depth of sheer human mental incapability and
Re: Disney's WAR on Men, White culture, and famili (Score:2)
This could also be fake, designed to make people like that look stupid by basically satirizing their rants
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It could. But it could also be completely genuine. There really are people that badly defective and apparently not only a few.
Re:Disney'sis corrupt (Score:3, Insightful)
That isn’t analysis, it’s a right wing rant built on stereotypes, paranoia, and zero evidence. Typially, all you right wing fanatics blame entire groups instead of engaging with reality, you ignore how companies actually operate and you replace facts with insults. Phrases like “go woke go broke” might feel satisfying, but they don’t explain anything and they're wrong, meaningless and stupid. If you want to criticize Disney, there are real issues to point to. This just advertis
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Disney's campaign to make everyone gay means, no future generations to buy AI.
They just want it to be a small world after all.
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What's Next? (Score:1)
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Wonder what the next post-AI bubble will be? (Score:2)
This gets me wondering where the next post-AI bubble will be, now that data centers hit diminishing returns, with Google seeming to take the lead due to better algorithms. NFTs and Bitcoin are past history.
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I do not like Bitcoin (and the concept of proof of work), but saying it is history is bullshit if you look at the price. People can still make good money with it.
Re: Wonder what the next post-AI bubble will be? (Score:2)
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Madoff lasted maybe 25 years before his operation collapsed in 2008. Bitcoin has lasted 17. Think it'll make it for another decade?
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I just wanted to say, if you look at someone who bought Bitcoin, let's say in 2010, then they are still quite a bit in the profit zone.
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Probably humanoid robots, it's already happening in China:
https://jingdaily.com/posts/ch... [jingdaily.com]
Not surprising? (Score:3)
OpenAI stops producing videos, video company stops investing. Why should this be surprising?
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Why should this be surprising?
It's not. There's nothing about news which requires it to be a surprise. Why do you think anyone finds it surprising? TFS and TFA don't. The only surprise was the cancellation of SORA which very much came out of nowhere.
Anyone else tired of that word? (Score:1, Offtopic)
Anyone else tired of that word? "Slop".
"AI slop" has become as meaningless and overused of a term as "toxic".
It seems to mean nothing more than "some use of AI/LLMs that I don't like".
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Problem is when people started labelling anything made by AI as slop regardless of quality. Ironically even stuff made by humans that is too good is sometimes labeled as slop because people suspect AI was involved.
It's definitely an appropriate word for the large amount of AI generated content being put out on the Internet, but it's also over used in a lot of cases
Re: Anyone else tired of that word? (Score:2)
Wrong, âoeslopâ means excessive amout of AI content. It can be quite accurate and correct and still be called slop.
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"AI slop" has become as meaningless and overused of a term as "toxic".
Maybe that's because there's so much slop being generated, and because you surround yourself with questionable people (or maybe you're the questionable one which is why you hear the word so often?)
$1B? (Score:2)
Altman and co. are dealing in investments of 10s and 100s of billions of dollars. Disney comes to the table with $1B and expects what, exactly? That OpenAI will be the firewall that protects Disney from AI predation? LOL. Disney will need to 10x or 100x that number at least, and they're still going to lose.
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That or the DoD is paying better than Sora ever would.
Good (Score:3)
Bummer (Score:3)
I was hoping for an AI Carl Barks (http://t.ly/BKTrV) creating new Donald Duck stories.