Disney has signed a major three-year licensing deal with OpenAI, granting it access to more than 250 characters and properties from Disney, Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars for AI-generated images and videos.
Shortly before the deal was announced in December 2025, Disney sent Google a cease-and-desist letter demanding it stop generating and distributing content based on its copyrighted characters. Google has now responded by blocking all Disney-related image generation requests in Gemini and Nano Banana. The chatbot declines such prompts, citing third-party content concerns.
While Gemini can still generate content from non-Disney brands like Shrek (owned by DreamWorks), only OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Sora are currently authorized to create officially licensed AI content featuring Disney characters.
Source: Android Authority
