The lawsuit alleges that Midjourney's AI image- and video-generation technologies "blatantly incorporate and copy Disney's and Universal's famous characters," like Yoda, Shrek and Marvel superheroes.

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

"Piracy is piracy," says Disney's chief legal officer, as the studios aim to show that tools allowing personalized AI slop creations of characters like Darth Vader or Shrek run afoul of their IP.