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

The suit, against Midjourney, is the first time major Hollywood companies have sued over A.I.-generated images.

Disney and Universal filed a joint copyright infringement suit against Midjourney, one of the most widely used generative AI image platforms. The complaint, filed in California, alleges that Midjourney knowingly trained its AI models on copyrighted film stills and character images – without permission.