Disney and Adobe Sign Multiyear Deal for Custom AI Models
Disney and Adobe will co-develop private, proprietary generative AI models on Adobe's Firefly Foundry for parks, studios and ESPN, the companies said.
The Walt Disney Company and Adobe have signed a multiyear agreement to build custom generative AI models for Disney, the companies announced Monday at Adobe’s MAX conference. The models will be developed on Adobe Firefly Foundry, a platform that lets large companies build and deploy their own AI models, and are meant to be private and proprietary to Disney, according to Reuters.
What happened
Reuters reported that the goal is to scale AI tools across Disney’s theme parks, studio and sports media businesses. The Verge reported that Adobe will give Disney early access to its latest technologies, and that the work is meant to support Disney’s production pipeline, from theme parks and its cruise line to film and television.
The companies describe the approach as “artist-led” and say they will focus on responsibly developed AI, according to tech outlet The Tech Buzz, which cited Adobe’s press release. Reuters said the models will be trained on Disney’s own intellectual property and are intended to produce production-ready outputs.
Initial use cases vary by division, Reuters reported. Disney Experiences, which runs the company’s theme parks, resorts and cruise lines, will use the models to speed up project development. StudioLAB, the innovation hub inside Walt Disney Studios, will use them for concept exploration. Adobe will also work with Disney on AI tools to increase fan engagement at ESPN and to bring more of the sports network’s content archive to audiences.
Walt Disney Imagineering, the creative, design and research arm of Disney Experiences, has already deployed a custom image generation model and a sketch-to-image model that turns hand-drawn sketches into rendered concept art, Reuters said.
What Disney says
Kyle Laughlin, senior vice president of research and development technology and engineering at Disney, said the tools compress creative work that once took months into hours and days, according to Reuters. He said they help “reduce costly changes in the field,” and that the tools are “in no way meant to replace” roles at Imagineering.
The deal builds on an earlier collaboration. In June, Adobe and Disney said Imagineering’s research and development group would use Firefly Foundry to build custom models for theme park design and pre-production. Disney’s own announcement at the time said the models were built on its creative assets and customized with more than 70 years of Imagineering work, and that Disney was among the first Firefly Foundry clients.
Why it matters
The agreement gives one of the world’s largest entertainment companies a long-term AI supplier at a time when Hollywood remains wary of generative AI. The Tech Buzz noted that Disney faced pushback over AI during the Hollywood strikes of 2023 and that Adobe has faced criticism over how AI systems are trained. Keeping the models private and trained on Disney’s own material is one way the companies address concerns about copyright and creative control.
It also comes as Disney is reportedly looking at costs. Reuters noted that Bloomberg News reported earlier this month that Disney was considering cutting thousands of jobs and had asked some managers to target 20% in annual cost savings. Neither company has linked the AI agreement to any staffing decisions, and Disney’s executive said in the Reuters report that the tools are not intended to replace Imagineering roles.
Disney has also taken a more adversarial stance toward some other AI companies. Axios reported in June that Disney has sued Midjourney and China’s MiniMax, and sent Google a cease-and-desist letter over alleged AI-related copyright infringement.
What is not yet known
Financial terms were not disclosed in the reports reviewed. The companies have not said how long the agreement runs beyond calling it multiyear, which specific models will be released, or whether any will be used to generate content that appears directly in films, television shows or other products seen by the public. It is also unclear how the work will involve Disney’s creative staff beyond the “artist-led” description.
