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Mickey Mouse, welcome to the AI era. Fans will soon be able to create short-form generative AI videos featuring more than 200 Disney, Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars characters thanks to a three-year agreement that The Walt Disney Co. inked Thursday with OpenAI. In addition to a $1 billion equity investment in the tech company, Disney will become the first major content licensing partner on OpenAIs Sora app. The new collaboration offers an opportunity for Disney to extend the reach of our storytelling through AI, Bob Iger, Disneys CEO, said in a statement. Bringing together Disneys iconic stories and characters with OpenAIs groundbreaking technology puts imagination and creativity directly into the hands of Disney fans in ways weve never seen before, giving them richer and more personal ways to connect with the Disney characters and stories they love. As for what Disney gets out of this deal, the media giant said it will become a major customer of OpenAI and receive warrants to purchase additional equity. Disney employees will also have access to ChatGPT and use OpenAIs tools to build new products and experiences. DISNEYS CLASHES WITH AI The move by Disney is interesting on two fronts: The company is famously and aggressively protective of its characters, while it has had other recent clashes over AI. In June, Disney and Universal Pictures sued the AI image creator Midjourney, alleging that the company trained its AI models on their intellectual property. And Disney jumped into another AI-related legal tussle this week. The company sent a cease-and-desist letter to Google on Wednesday, accusing the tech giant of using UA to engage in copyright infringement on a massive scale, as Variety reported. By partnering with OpenAI, Disney is busting open its massive toy chest of popular characters spanning the decadesfrom Mickey Mouse to Darth Vader, Ariel, and Captain Americaas fodder for AI creators. The company even teased that some of these fan-created videos could stream on Disney+. It will be interesting to see how this partnership plays out once fans can start creating videos, which is estimated to begin sometime in early 2026. When Sora launched in September, the blowback came fast and furious after users flocked to the platform to create AI-generated videos featuring all sorts of popular characters. Within weeks, the Motion Picture Academy urged OpenAI to stop allowing copyright infringement on the platform. EMPHASIS ON RESPONSIBILITY But Disney and OpenAI emphasized in their announcement that the companies have a shared commitment to the responsible use of AI, which includes protecting the rights of creators. This agreement shows how AI companies and creative leaders can work together responsibly to promote innovation that benefits society, respect the importance of creativity, and help works reach vast new audiences, Sam Altman, cofounder and CEO of OpenAI, said in a statement. How, exactly, opening up the Disney library of characters to use on an AI platform benefits society is a bit unclear. But the agreement seemingly will give Disney more control over how its characters are used in this new era. And, at the very least, investors seem intrigued by the partnership. Disney shares rose nearly 1.5% amid a broader market rally as of mid-day Thursday.
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If budgeting spreadsheets and lofty financial goals leave you stressed rather than inspired, consider another New Years ritual: an end-of-year money audit. The word audit might not sound all that fun. But just like an accountant, its helpful to approach your money behavior as neutral and impersonal as possible. At the end of every year, people tend to jump straight into resolutions: cutting spending, tightening budgets, and promising themselves theyll finally get disciplined in the new year, Jack Howard, Head of Money Wellness at Ally Bank, told Fast Company. But I think the most meaningful financial reset starts somewhere much quieter: with your emotions. One of the most overlooked parts of financial wellness is understanding the emotional habits behind our money choices. Its not about creating a strict budget; its taking stock of the emotional habits behind your spending. When you understand whats working (or not), you can make more intentional choices about what to amplify, adjust, or leave in 2025. Before the holidays get rolling, it can be helpful to take a pause to conduct an emotional money audit. December is a great time to do this because you can go into the new year feeling confident about where you are financially and plan for the upcoming year. Heres how Howard recommends people approach their own audit, to start off 2026 on the right financial footing. Start with reflection, not restriction Look back at the year through the lens of how your spending made you feelsecure, stressed, impulsive, proud? Howard says. Notice patterns without judgment. Ask yourself which habits supported your financial well-being and which ones held you back. More than one in five American adults (22%) said they’d had to dip into their savings to cover their expenses in the past year. And as traditional milestones, like starting a family and homeownership, feel further out of reach for many, treat culture, the habit of indulging in small luxuries has taken grip. Examine the habits beneath your behaviors And yet much of our adult spending behavior started long before we were old enough to even make our own money. I call these our ‘money roots,’ Howard says. Take a moment to understand what triggers certain financial choices and which habits you want to start, continue, or stop heading into 2026. Get a clear, full picture of your finances According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Americans owe more debt than at any point in historymore than $18.5 trillion in total. In such circumstances, it can be easier to bury your head in the sand or throw caution to the wind and book that three-week trip to Europe. When you dont have a clear picture of whats coming in and going out, everyday decisions can feel overwhelming, Howard says. Start by listing out your current income, expenses, savings, and debt. Be specific so you can see where your money is actually going. Create a realistic, values-based spending plan for 2026 Money wellness isnt about always saying ‘no’ to spending, says Howard. Its just as much about saying yes intentionallyto the things that you truly value. Figure out your core values, and invest in them. Is it an expensive gym membership or overpriced fitness class? Is it that coffee you buy on the way to work everyday that puts a smile on your face? Budget for the purchases that bring you joy and cut costs elsewhere. The goal is never perfectionits progress The power of compounding is not limited to investments. Focus on creating positive financial wellness momentum to propel you into the new year, says Howard. Set clear, manageable milestones and outline small, steady steps to build traction, like setting a weekly money check-in, automating tiny transfers towards your goals, or reviewing one spending category at a time.
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E-Commerce
Last week, Netflix announced it was buying Warner Bros. in a massive $82.7 billion deal. The streaming giant’s acquisition will set Netflix, which already leads the streaming wars, even further apart from competitors, as it will also add HBO, a Warner subsidiary. But while the deal will further cement Netflix’s domination, questions are swirling around how it will impact viewers, as well as the talent platforms rely on.Streaming platforms have recently undergone consolidation, creating three mega-platforms. According to a Forbes survey, Netflix is the most popular streaming service in America with 55% of Americans saying they use it, followed by Amazon Prime (51%), and Disney+ (49%). And, for talent, like actors and writers, the further consolidation of streaming platforms may escalate financial worries that have already been growing for some in the entertainment industry. In recent years, a number of actors have openly raised concerns about fair pay, as streaming platforms began to change the game. While traditional broadcast series pay residuals for each re-airing, as a percentage of the actor’s salary, later agreements changed the way actors earned residuals entirely. The new formula was based around a predetermined licensing fee, rather than the number of re-runs. Netflix, which seemed to favor paying actors more upfront while rather than residuals may have been particularly guilty of underpaying talent. And there was no shortage of actors calling the streaming giant out. A number of actors on some of Netflix’s most popular shows have spoken about their low-ball paychecks, having to keep their day jobs, or even pay for their own transportation to the set a conversation which gained traction with the 2023 writer’s strike. Alysia Reiner, who played the warden Natalie (Fig) Figueroa, in Netflix’s hit series, Orange is the New Black, told New York Magazine in a 2023 interview, about the “risk” that actors took during the early days of streaming, saying that “the reward for Netflix does not seem in line with the reward for all of us who took that risk.” Reiner continued, “I can go anywhere in the world and Im recognized, and Im so deeply grateful for that recognition. Many people say theyve watched the series multiple times, and they quote me my lines. But was I paid in a commensurate way? I dont think so. With the latest transaction under way, SAG-AFTRA addressed the reignited concerns around talent’s pay in a Dec. 5 statement, explaining that the consolidation “raises many serious questions about its impact on the future of the entertainment industry, and especially the human creative talent whose livelihoods and careers depend on it.” The statement continued, A deal that is in the interest of SAG-AFTRA members and all other workers in the entertainment industry must result in more creation and more production, not less. It must do so in an environment of respect for the talent involved.” However, it seems like those things may not come without a fight, especially given how Netflix prefers to put big-budget films directly on its streaming service for subscribers, rather than opting for theatrical releases. That recent transaction has some groups, like the Directors Guild of America (DGA), already expressing “significant concerns ” over the development. In a Dec. 5 statement, the DGA said, We believe that a vibrant, competitive industry one that fosters creativity and encourages genuine competition for talent is essential to safeguarding the careers and creative rights of directors and their teams.” The DGA added that it will be meeting with the streaming giant “to outline our concerns and better understand their vision for the future of the company.” Jon Shavitz, an independent filmmaker and writer living in Los Angeles, also addressed concerns around the deal in a recent blog post, writing that the experience of going to the movie theater is endangered as the giants take over, but it’s not because audiences don’t want theatrics, which, in his view, is utterly irreplaceable. Audiences still want the big screen,” Shavitz writes. “They still want the magic of the lights coming down and the quiet anticipation before the picture starts. They still want to gasp with a hundred people at the same time. You cant algorithm that. You cant stream your way out of that fundamental human appetite for an exciting theatrical-only event.” Still, Shavitz tells Fast Company that the concern creators are feeling around financials, as well as potentially fewer jobs, is “fair. He says that, simply, the streaming model doesnt work as far as getting talent paid fairly. Still, the writer says he’s also hopeful that people within the industry “will fight to fix what’s broken,” noting that he believes the economics of deals such as this which dont support talent, could ultimately force a return to core business fundamentals. By that he means an eventual return to the ever-evaporating exclusive theatrical windows. As he writes in his blog, Netflix’s deal is an “overreach” that will force both those working within the industry, as well as audiences, to decide between “a streaming-only future for major release films, or working to restore the very thing that made cinema a cultural force in the first place”. Once the deal goes through, whatever happens next, Shavitz says, will be “up to us industry and non-industry people alike to fight for the theatrical experience.” Fast Company reached out to Netflix for comment.
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