The Walt Disney Company

Rule Changes

Faced backlash and lawsuit over 2015 H-1B layoffs

On December 29, 2025, the Department of Homeland Security published its final rule replacing the H-1B lottery with wage-weighted selection. It takes effect February 27, 2026.

Updated 1 hour ago

Money Moves

First major studio to both sue AI firms for infringement and license characters to a leading AI platform.

Mickey Mouse just shook hands with the algorithm Hollywood spent two years trying to tame. Disney is investing $1 billion in OpenAI, letting Sora and ChatGPT Images legally generate short videos and images of more than 200 Disney, Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars characters — not the actors who play them.

Updated 5 days ago

Money Moves

Reporting Q2 FY26 results; restructuring around streaming

For 28 years ESPN was Disney's cable cash machine — a pay-TV channel that millions paid for whether they watched it or not. Disney's May 6 earnings report described something different: a standalone $29.99-a-month streaming service, an asset valued at $30 billion, and a sports network in which the National Football League now owns 10%.

Updated May 6

Money Moves

Accepted Sora shutdown; $1B equity investment never closed; character licensing ended April 26; in talks with OpenAI for future collaboration

OpenAI previewed Sora as a glimpse of cinema's AI future in February 2024. Twenty-six months later, on April 26, 2026, the company switched off the Sora consumer app for good. The underlying programming interface (the API that lets other developers tap the model) keeps running until September 24, but the standalone product, the iOS social feed, and the Disney character partnership all end now. When Sam Altman personally called new Disney CEO Josh D'Amaro to break the news, he said he felt 'terrible' — and D'Amaro replied, 'I get it.'

Updated Apr 27