Disney Taps Adobe as ‘Official AI Innovation Partner’ Under Multiyear Pact
Disney and Adobe announced a multiyear strategic alliance to collaborate across a range of emerging technologies — including “responsibly developed AI” — in support of Disney’s creative teams.
Building on the companies’ longstanding relationship, Adobe will be an “official AI innovation partner” of the Walt Disney Co. under which the creative and design software giant will provide Disney early access to its latest AI, creative and media technologies. This includes Adobe Firefly (generative AI for creatives), Adobe Firefly Foundry (proprietary AI models), Adobe Premiere (video editing) and Adobe Photoshop (digital imaging) — along with dedicated engineering and research resources — to support the Disney production pipeline.
The partnership lets Adobe amplify “innovation stories” with Walt Disney World Resort, Disneyland Resort, Disney Cruise Line, ESPN Edge and StudioLAB through global marketing activations, industry events, customer storytelling and other strategic engagement opportunities. Adobe will “increase its presence across Disney’s media platforms” as part of the alliance, to connect with audiences across entertainment and sports.
The announcement is timed for Adobe MAX 2026, the company’s annual creativity conference, taking place Nov. 10-12 in Miami.
“Disney has always embraced innovation, and this alliance with Adobe builds on a longstanding relationship between two companies that share a deep commitment to creativity,” said Becca Vodnoy, SVP of corporate alliances for Disney. “By bringing together Disney’s world-class storytellers and beloved brands with Adobe’s technology, we have an exciting opportunity to give our creative teams new ways to explore and develop their ideas and bring Disney stories and experiences to life for guests and fans around the world.”
“Adobe and the Walt Disney Company have had a decades-long collaboration, where Adobe’s creativity, productivity and customer experience orchestration tools have supported everything from Disney’s content creation pipelines and workflows to personalized marketing campaigns and digital experiences that come to life in the parks,” said Hannah Elsakr, VP of GenAI New Business Venture at Adobe, in a statement. “Today’s announcement marks the next chapter of the relationship, where the two companies will build a new creative foundation that thoughtfully deploys AI as an accelerant for artistic vision, creativity and guest engagement.”
With Adobe Firefly Foundry, Disney says it will work directly with Adobe on generative AI models tailored to Disney’s properties that are “human-centered and artist-led.” Customized on Disney properties, the proprietary models are trained on unique world knowledge (character attributes, environments, visual styles) to generate commercially safe and production-ready outputs, while accelerating work and enabling the development of more creative projects.
Walt Disney Imagineering Research & Development is already using Adobe Firefly Foundry to bring new ideas into its theme park development pipeline, including a sketch-to-image model that transforms hand-drawn concepts into fully rendered 2D concept art, as well as a custom image model that generates on-brand, franchise-accurate creative assets.
The Adobe and Disney alliance will include collaborations on emerging technology development across Walt Disney Studios’ StudioLAB and ESPN Edge.
StudioLAB, a collaborative innovation hub for the Walt Disney Studios, brings together creative and technical talent to prototype ideas and turn experiments into proven tools and new storytelling opportunities. Adobe joins the program as a StudioLAB Innovation Partner, collaborating with Disney creatives and technologists to explore and expand internal creative workflows.
The ESPN Edge Innovation Center was created to explore, test and implement emerging technologies that impact the art of sports storytelling. ESPN and Adobe will identify ways for AI to enhance the engagement with sports fans and shape how ESPN delivers content as well as new ways to bring ESPN’s archive to life.
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