Welcome back to Daily Zaps, your regularly-scheduled dose of AI news ⚡️ 

Here’s what we got for ya today:

• Details of Disney’s $1B deal with OpenAI

• Is AI hurting American jobs?

• OpenAI's new GPT-5.2 model has arrived

• DoD’s GenAI.mil platform powered by Google

Let’s get right into it!

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BIG TECH

Details of Disney’s $1B deal with OpenAI

Disney has struck a landmark $1B deal with OpenAI, becoming the first major Hollywood studio to license its iconic characters—including those from Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar, and Disney Animation—to the generative video app Sora, allowing fans to create personalized short-form videos that may even appear on Disney+. The three-year agreement marks a shift from Disney’s earlier copyright battles with AI firms, as the company now opts in to Sora while prohibiting OpenAI from training models on its IP.

Disney will also adopt OpenAI tools internally for new products, employee workflows, and enhanced Disney+ experiences. Both companies emphasize responsible AI use, protections for creators, and strict controls around voice and likeness rights as they collaborate to blend Disney storytelling with OpenAI’s technology.

CAREERS

Is AI hurting American jobs?

Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell said AI is “part of the story” behind rising unemployment that contributed to recent rate cuts, but emphasized it is not yet a major driver, noting that layoffs tied to AI aren’t showing up in broad economic data like unemployment claims. Still, he acknowledged a curious gap between companies publicly blaming AI for workforce reductions and the lack of corresponding labor-market signals, even as young software engineers and workers in AI-exposed fields like coding, analytics, marketing and customer service report difficulty finding jobs.

Powell noted that productivity gains predate generative AI and stem partly from pandemic-era automation, but warned that this AI wave may ultimately be more disruptive to labor than past technological shifts — and if it is, the U.S. may lack the necessary tools to manage the resulting social and employment fallout.

BIG TECH

OpenAI's new GPT-5.2 model has arrived

OpenAI unveiled GPT 5.2 as its rapid “code red” answer to Google’s Gemini 3 Pro, positioning the new model as a major leap in professional-grade reliability, reasoning, and speed after the underwhelming reception of GPT 5. The upgraded GPT-5.2 Thinking version posts substantial benchmark gains over GPT-5.1, including a perfect AIME 2025 math score and double-digit improvements in abstract reasoning, while producing 30 percent fewer factual errors.

OpenAI says GPT-5.2 Instant also improves everyday conversation, instructions, technical writing, translation, and overall usability. The release comes as OpenAI faces fierce competition, including Gemini 3 Pro topping LMArena rankings, and after users criticized GPT 5 enough to ask for GPT-4o’s return.

GOVERNMENT

DoD’s GenAI.mil platform powered by Google

The Pentagon has launched GenAI.mil, a secure AI platform giving all U.S. military personnel, civilian employees and contractors access to frontier generative-AI tools, beginning with Google Cloud’s Gemini for Government. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the effort reflects a full commitment to AI as a core element of future warfare, enabling rapid research, document generation, and image/video analysis with controlled-unclassified security protections.

The Defense Department is also evaluating tech from xAI, Anthropic, and OpenAI, and will provide free training to all employees to confidently and safely use GenAI.mil for tasks such as intelligence analysis, logistics, and data collection.