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.

Disney and NBCU filed a federal lawsuit 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.”