Disney CEO Bob Iger: “AI Will Be Key to How the Company Operates” — Confirms It’s Already Being Used Across All Businesses
Disney CEO Bob Iger says artificial intelligence is no longer just an experiment at Disney, it’s already being used in every part of the company. And according to him, it’s only going to grow in importance.
Speaking with CNBC, Iger confirmed he recently took part in a White House meeting with President Trump’s AI team.
The conversation, he explained, focused a lot on intellectual property. “We did have a meeting in the White House, the president’s AI team, and we were largely talking about issues related to intellectual property protection,” Iger said.
But Disney didn’t stop there. Iger added that he made it clear to officials how central AI has already become for the company. “We also made it a point of saying that Disney believes that AI will be an important part of our future. We’re already using AI in every one of our businesses, and we believe that over time it will become an important component of how our company operates.”
Even with that embrace of technology, Iger stressed that Disney wants to use AI carefully. “It’s important that as we migrate to a new world when it comes to technology, that we continue to respect the creative community and also be mindful of the impact it can have on our intellectual properties, which you know is essentially the core of our company and what we do and who we are,” he told CNBC.
The meeting came at a time when the White House is preparing to roll out its official AI action plan. The plan could shape how copyright laws are applied to training AI systems, something that could have major consequences for Hollywood.
Disney, along with other studios, has raised concerns about AI models copying their movies, characters, or designs in ways that damage their value.
According to people familiar with the matter, Iger was joined by Disney’s legal chief Horacio Gutierrez in raising those concerns to Washington officials. Disney is already involved in lawsuits on the subject.
Together with Universal, the company sued the AI startup Midjourney, accusing it of using copyrighted images without permission to train its image generator.
The legal fight goes beyond Disney. Judges have started to weigh in on cases involving Meta and Anthropic, with some rulings suggesting that AI training might be considered “fair use” if the end result is something new. At the same time, courts have also warned that lawsuits could still succeed if creators can prove AI harms their work or their market.
While tech companies argue that AI training is necessary to keep pace with China, many in Hollywood fear it could wipe out the value of creative work. Joshua Levine, a fellow at the Foundation for American Innovation, put it simply: “They’re fighting over who’s going to control and dictate the next generation of technological development.”
For Iger and Disney, the goal seems to be finding a middle ground. The company wants to make use of AI to shape its future, but it also wants to protect the creators and stories that built its brand. That balance, Iger suggests, will define how Disney moves forward in the age of artificial intelligence.
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