Disney and Universal are suing AI photo generation company Midjourney, marking the first major legal showdown between Hollywood studios and an artificial intelligence company.

Disney and Universal have filed a lawsuit against an AI company over use of their copyrighted characters to create facsimiles: 'Piracy is piracy.'

Disney and NBCU filed the federal suit Tuesday against Midjourney, a generative AI start-up, alleging copyright infringement. The companies alleged that Midjourney’s own website “displays hundreds, if not thousands, of images generated by its Image Service at the request of its subscribers that infringe Plaintiffs’ Copyrighted Works.”