Key facts
- Disney and Adobe signed a multi-year deal to co-develop custom generative AI models for Disney.
- The models will be built through Adobe's Firefly Foundry and will be private and proprietary to Disney.
- Initial work targets Disney's Experiences division and StudioLAB, the innovation hub within Walt Disney Studios.
- Adobe will also work with Disney on ESPN fan engagement and bringing more of ESPN's content archive to audiences.
- Walt Disney Imagineering has deployed a custom image generation model and a sketch-to-image model for concept art.
Disney and Adobe have struck a multi-year deal to co-develop custom generative AI models for the media company, the two companies said in an announcement reported by Reuters on November 9, 2026. The agreement is aimed at scaling AI tools across Disney's theme parks, studio and sports media businesses.
The work will begin with speeding up project development timelines at Disney's Experiences division, which houses its global theme parks, resorts and cruise lines, and with concept exploration at StudioLAB, the innovation hub within Walt Disney Studios. Adobe will also work with Disney on using AI tools to increase engagement with sports fans at ESPN and to bring more of ESPN's content archive to audiences.
Through Adobe's Firefly Foundry, a service that lets enterprises build and deploy custom AI models, the two companies will work on generative AI models trained on Disney's intellectual properties that produce production-ready outputs. The models will be private and proprietary to Disney.
Walt Disney Imagineering, the creative, design and research and development arm behind Disney Experiences, has deployed a custom image generation model and a sketch-to-image model that can turn hand-drawn sketches into fully rendered concept art. Kyle Laughlin, senior vice president of R&D technology and engineering at Disney, said in an interview that the tools compress a creative process that would have taken months into hours and days. "We're able to run through multiple iterations quickly with these tools. And that helps us reduce costly changes in the field once we get into the construction of these experiences," Laughlin said, adding that the tools are "in no way meant to replace" roles at Imagineering.
Reuters also reported that Bloomberg News said earlier in November that Disney was considering cutting thousands of jobs and had asked some managers to target 20% in annual cost savings. That report is separate from the Adobe agreement.