Walt Disney Imagineering Is Using a New System — And It's Going To Be Controversial

It’s been a bit of a rocky world when it comes to Disney and AI, especially after Disney pulled out of their deal with OpenAI following the company’s shutdown of Sora.

©Variety

The deal between Disney and OpenAI included a $1 billion investment in OpenAI, but now that that has fallen through, Disney has been thinking of other ways to make use of AI regarding their IP. Now, there’s been an update in the saga, as Disney has begun using Adobe’s Firefly Foundry, which is the commercial version of Adobe’s AI model.

Variety has reported that, months after the deal with OpenAI fell through, Disney’s Imagineering Research & Development team is beginning to use Adobe’s Firefly Foundry, the commercial version of Adobe’s AI model that is designed to protect a brand’s intellectual property. That’s a big deal for Disney, as they’re currently still pursuing AI companies like Midjourney and MiniMax in court over copyright infringement. The idea behind using the tool is to “help Imagineers design and visualize elements of Disney’s upcoming parks and attractions.” So far, the Firefly models have been trained on franchises like Frozen, Cars, and Lilo & Stitch, and have also helped Imagineers “turn sketches into fully rendered 2D concept art along with turning 2D renderings into 3D prototype models.”

©Disney

In a recent statement about using the technology, Kyle Laughlin, Walt Disney Imagineering’s senior vice president of R&D, technology, and engineering, said, “At Imagineering, we’ve always believed technology and human creativity can work together responsibly. Our work with Adobe lets us bring Disney stories and characters to life in our Parks faster, and with the emotional quality our guests expect.”

©Variety

Hannah Elsakr, Adobe’s vice president of GenAI New Business Ventures, added onto the statement, saying, “Storytelling is in Disney’s DNA. Empowering creators with the latest AI innovations is in ours. As the teams at Imagineering build new experiences for fans around the world, our tools and workflows will provide a creative foundation to explore bolder ideas and make the best ones a reality.”

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