While Disney inks a $1 billion deal with OpenAI to license its characters for AI videos, the entertainment giant is also going after Google. Disney sent Google a cease-and-desist letter on Wednesday, alleging Google’s AI models are infringing upon its copyright protections on a “massive scale.”
“Google’s AI Services are designed to free ride off Disney’s intellectual property. Google has refused to implement any technological measures to mitigate or prevent copyright infringement, even though such measures are readily available and being used by Google’s competitors,” the letter reads. “Instead, Google continues to directly exploit Disney’s copyrights for commercial gain.”
Google recently released a major overhaul to its AI offering with Gemini 3, which included the second generation of its popular nano banana pro AI image model. We’ve seen a massive uptick in the popularity and ability of creative AI tools this year; new models give AI users the ability to create ultra-realistic AI images and videos. This ability has long worried copyright and intellectual property owners, and improvements in AI models this year have only brought those concerns into clearer view. Disney, as one of the biggest intellectual property owners, has become central to these legal and ethical debates.
The letter outlines Disney’s concerns that Google is using its position as a market leader to create and disseminate AI content. As the parent company of YouTube, the letter says Google is “flooding the market with infringing works, and reaping enormous profits and other value from its unlawful, harmful and damaging exploitation of Disney’s copyrighted works.” Disney says it brought its concerns to Google’s attention months ago but did nothing in response, leading to this week’s cease-and-desist letter.
Previously, Disney, along with Universal and Warner Bros., had already filed lawsuits against Midjourney AI over similar infringement concerns, calling the AI company “a bottomless pit of plagiarism.” Disney’s complaint in the cease-and-desist letter deals with the same issue: that Google’s AI users can use its models to create content that is too similar to its copyrighted characters, like Darth Vader. But while Disney is taking legal action against Google, we know that it has explored licensing opportunities with other AI companies, like OpenAI.
On Thursday, Disney announced it had inked a $1 billion deal with OpenAI, one of Google’s biggest competitors. The deal gives OpenAI clearance to use over 200 of Disney’s iconic characters in AI images and Sora videos, including those from Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars. The deal makes Disney “a major customer” of OpenAI, bringing ChatGPT to Disney employees and select Sora AI videos to Disney Plus. This is a markedly different approach from Disney’s previous AI-related legal action.
CNET reached out to Google for comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
(Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET’s parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)
For more, check out new pricing for Disney Plus, Hulu Live and ESPN and a guide to understanding copyright and AI.