15/12/2025

LYFE MONDAY | DEC 15, 2025

/thesuntelegram FOLLOW / Malaysian Paper

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W ALT Disney and OpenAI announced a three-year licensing deal that will allow users to create short videos featuring beloved Disney characters through artificial intelligence (AI). The deal marks the first time a major entertainment company has embraced generative AI at this scale, licensing its fiercely protected characters – from Mickey Mouse to Marvel superheroes and Star Wars’s Darth Vader – for AI content creation. The partnership represents a dramatic shift for an industry that has largely been battling AI companies in court. Disney and other creative industry giants have been suing AI firms such as OpenAI, Perplexity and Anthropic, accusing them of illegally using their content to train their technology. The entertainment giant recently continued that legal campaign, separately sending a cease-and-desist letter to Google over the illegal use of

Disney cartoon, film characters heading to Sora

collaboration would “thoughtfully and responsibly extend the reach of our storytelling.” Characters available for fan creations will include Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Elsa from Frozen, and Marvel heroes such as Iron Man and Captain America, as well as Star Wars icons including Darth Vader and Yoda. The agreement excludes talent likenesses and voices from actors amid deep concern in Hollywood about the impact of AI. – AFP

included characters directly inspired by real cartoons and video games, from South Park to Pokemon. Facing licence-holder anger, CEO Sam Altman promised OpenAI would offer rights holders more control to put a stop to these AI copies. The partnership includes a US$1 billion (RM4.1 billion) equity investment by Disney in OpenAI, along with warrants to purchase additional shares in the ChatGPT maker. Disney CEO Robert Iger said the

revenue – despite nearing one billion users worldwide. Under the agreement, fans will be able to produce and share AI-generated content featuring more than 200 characters from Disney, Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars franchises on OpenAI’s Sora video generation platform and ChatGPT. Launched at the end of September, Sora aims to be a TikTok-like social network where only AI-generated videos can be posted. From the outset, many videos have

o Entertainment giant enters deal with ChatGPT-maker its intellectual property to train the search engine giant’s AI models. For OpenAI, the deal comes as it faces increasing questions about the sustainability of its business model, with costs skyrocketing far faster than

Architects of AI named Time’s ‘Person of the Year’ TIME Magazine named the

Masayoshi Son. It explores such troubling aspects of AI as the death of a 16-year-old Californian who committed suicide, after which his parents sued ChatGPT maker OpenAI, blaming the company for their son’s death because of conversations he had with the chatbot. Time is among many media outlets partnering with AI firms to license content and develop new tools. In June 2024, it signed a multi-year content deal with OpenAI that gave the ChatGPT maker access to its archived news content. In response to user queries, the chatbot cites and links back to the source on Time.com. Time magazine named then-president-elect Donald Trump “Person of the Year” in 2024, as well as in 2016. Past winners have also included pop star Taylor Swift, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Tesla chief executive Elon Musk. – Reuters

architects of artificial intelligence (AI) its “Person of the Year”, citing their ability to deliver the age of thinking machines with transformative technology. “Person of the Year is a powerful way to focus the world’s attention on the people that shape our lives. And this year, no one had a greater impact than the individuals who imagined, designed and built AI,” Time editor-in-chief Sam Jacobs wrote in a letter to readers. Jacobs described the architects as “wowing and worrying humanity” and “transforming the present and transcending the possible”. The 2025 “Person of the Year” issue features a cover story that explores how AI changed the world over the year in new and “sometimes frightening ways”. It includes interviews with Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang, whose chips are powering the AI boom, and AI investors such as SoftBank CEO

Two covers of Time Magazine announcing ‘Architects of AI’ as the 2025 Time Person of the Year, featuring an illustration by Peter Crowther (left image) and a painting by Jason Seiler (right image). – AFP PHOTO / TIME / TIME PERSON OF THE YEAR

Instagram users given control over what they see through new AI-powered feature INSTAGRAM recently unveiled a new AI-powered feature that lets users view and adjust the algorithm shaping their Reels feed, calling it a pioneering move toward greater user control. The Meta-owned app is introducing “Your Algorithm”, resisted greater transparency. “Instagram has always been a place to dive deep into your interests and connect with friends. As your interests evolve over time, we want to give you more meaningful ways to control what you see,” the company said in its blog.

accessible through an icon in the upper right corner of Reels – a user’s video feed – which displays the topics Instagram believes users are interested in based on their viewing history. In a blog post, Meta said users can now directly tell the platform which subjects they want to see more or less of, with recommendations adjusting accordingly in real time. Social media platforms have faced mounting pressure from regulators and users alike to provide greater transparency around algorithmic content curation, which critics say can create echo chambers or promote harmful content. But companies also see algorithms as their platform’s “secret sauce” for engaging users and have often

The feature shows users a summary of their top interests and allows them to type in specific topics to fine-tune their feed. Instagram said it is “leading the way” in offering such transparency and control, with plans to expand the feature beyond Reels to Explore and other sections of the app. The tool has launched in the US and will roll out globally in English “soon”, the company said. The move came as Australia, in a world-first, banned people under age 16 from a raft of popular social media apps, including Instagram. The government said it aimed to “take back control” from tech giants and protect children from “predatory algorithms”. – AFP

The feature shows users a summary of their top interests. – PIC FROM INSTAGRAM.COM