Disney sued an AI company for copying its characters. Now it is building its own AI on them, with Adobe

Since mid-2025 Disney has been in court arguing that AI companies took its characters without asking. Its newest move is to build the AI itself, on its own terms.

Adobe and The Walt Disney Company announced a multi-year strategic alliance on Monday, 9 November US time, at Adobe’s MAX conference. Adobe becomes Disney’s official AI innovation partner, and Disney’s teams get early access to Adobe’s latest AI, creative and media technology, including Firefly, Firefly Foundry, Premiere and Photoshop, along with dedicated Adobe engineers and researchers.

The centrepiece is custom generative models. Working with Adobe’s Firefly Foundry, Disney will build models tailored to its own properties, trained on character attributes, environments and visual styles, and designed to produce what the companies call commercially safe, production-ready work.

What will Disney actually use it for?

The first projects are with StudioLAB, the innovation arm of The Walt Disney Studios, and ESPN Edge. The studio work starts with post-production and visual effects. At ESPN, the focus is on fan engagement, how content is delivered, and bringing ESPN’s vast sports archive back to life.

Disney’s parks are already a step ahead. Walt Disney Imagineering began using Firefly Foundry in June, with a model that turns hand-drawn sketches into 2D concept art and another that generates artwork which stays true to each franchise. The new alliance extends that work to Walt Disney World, Disneyland and Disney Cruise Line.

“Disney has always embraced innovation,” said Becca Vodnoy, Disney’s senior vice president of corporate alliances, adding that the alliance would give creative teams new ways to explore and develop ideas.

Why is this a turn?

In June 2025 Disney and Universal sued the image generator Midjourney, accusing it of training on their characters without a licence. Last December Disney invested US$1 billion in OpenAI and licensed more than 200 of its characters for OpenAI’s Sora video app.

The Adobe deal fits the same strategy: AI, but trained on material Disney owns and controls. Both companies describe the tools as artist-led, there to speed up work rather than replace the people doing it.

What does it mean for audiences and creative workers?

For viewers, the changes will mostly be invisible: faster visual effects, quicker concept work for new rides and films, and more archive footage on ESPN. The open question is jobs. Visual effects and concept art are among the roles most exposed to generative tools, and neither company has said how the work will change for the artists who do it now.