OpenAI is making its Hollywood debut by backing Critterz, an animated feature largely created with artificial intelligence. With a budget under $30 million and a nine-month production timeline, the film aims to prove that AI can create high-quality content faster and cheaper than traditional methods. If successful, it could open new doors for AI technology in entertainment, from streaming to animation studios.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Chad Nelson of OpenAI first conceptualized Critterz three years ago with sketches made using DALL-E, OpenAI’s text-to-image model. Nelson has teamed up with London’s Vertigo Films and Los Angeles-based Native Foreign to produce a full-length version of the film, which is targeting a debut at the Cannes Film Festival in May. The use of AI is expected to reduce production time to nine months, compared with the typical three years.
The project’s budget is under $30 million, well below most animated films. While human actors will provide character voices, artists will create initial sketches. These are then enhanced with OpenAI tools, including GPT-5 and image-generation models.
Warner Bros. Discovery sues AI company Midjourney for copyright infringement
Warner Bros has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against AI image generator Midjourney, accusing the company of using its copyrighted characters without permission. The complaint alleges Midjourney allows users to create images and videos featuring iconic characters like Batman, Superman, and Bugs Bunny, claiming the AI service was trained on unauthorized copies of Warner Bros.’ content.
Warner Bros is the third major studio, after Disney and Universal, to sue Midjourney over similar copyright violations. The studios argue that Midjourney profits from content created by years of creative work without compensating the original rights holders.
A court has scheduled a trial over claims that Anthropic illegally downloaded millions of books to build a training library for its AI system. The San Francisco company, which later settled the lawsuit, faced potential damages in the hundreds of millions. That legal decision may pave the way for Warner Bros. Discovery, Disney, and Universal to seek similar payouts. Those studios are investigating how Midjourney obtained copies of thousands of films and TV shows used to train its image-generation AI.
Anthropic agrees to pay $1.5 billion in copyright settlement
Anthropic has agreed to pay $1.5 billion to settle a copyright lawsuit alleging it used pirated books to train its AI chatbot, Claude. The settlement, which requires court approval, covers about 500,000 works and marks the largest copyright payout in U.S. history. Anthropic will pay an estimated $3,000 per work and must also destroy the pirated materials it retained.
The case highlights the legal challenges AI companies face over the use of copyrighted content. Other tech firms, including Meta and OpenAI, are also facing similar lawsuits. Meanwhile, major studios such as Disney and Universal Pictures have sued AI company Midjourney over alleged copyright violations involving their copyrighted materials.
Ginger Liu MFA is the founder of Hollywood’s Ginger Media & Entertainment, a writer and researcher on technology and entertainment, a multidisciplinary artist and filmmaker, and host of the podcast The Digital Afterlife of Grief.
