Disney and Adobe Jointly Develop Proprietary AI Tools

Disney and Adobe have been revealed to be jointly developing proprietary AI tools for entertainment production. The initiative involves constructing a customized model tailored to Disney's brand and creative universe based on Adobe's image generation AI, Firefly.

Behind this lies the tension surrounding AI adoption across the entertainment industry as a whole. While AI tool implementation is progressing rapidly in film and television production, copyright and brand protection issues have emerged as major challenges. For major content holders like Disney, using external general-purpose AI as-is presents difficulties from the perspective of brand image consistency and intellectual property management. The move to build proprietary models can be positioned as a practical response to such challenges.

Adobe's Firefly is constructed using training data with commercial use in mind and is known as a 'brand-safe' generative AI that reduces copyright risks. One can interpret that Disney's choice of Firefly as a partner reflects consideration for such safety. Both companies are currently developing a customized AI model specialized for Disney's production environment.

What this collaboration demonstrates is a new form of AI adoption in the entertainment industry. Rather than using general-purpose tools as-is, a 'hybrid' approach that builds on existing trusted AI platforms while customizing for one's own needs is beginning to spread. The Disney and Adobe initiative stands to attract attention within the industry as an example of this trend.

The future focus will be on how these customized models are integrated into actual production pipelines. In video production, there are numerous scenarios where AI can play a role—conceptual art generation, visual development, and marketing asset creation. However, interpersonal issues remain, such as relationships with creators like actors and screenwriters, and negotiations with labor unions. The challenge will be balancing the pace of technology adoption with consensus-building on the production floor.

The fact that a company of Disney's brand value and intellectual property holdings has chosen to build a proprietary model for AI adoption carries significant implications for the entire industry. As generative AI becomes established as a production tool, the view that 'how to customize for one's own use' is becoming a source of competitive advantage—not just 'which AI to use'—is likely to strengthen.