We continue to offer a free 2-week trial of WrapPRO. If you’ve been wanting to check out our full coverage, now’s the time.Greetings!The Walt Disney Company, like every other media giant, bought into the growing AI hype over the last few years. A year ago, it created the Office of Technology Enablement with the goal of figuring out how AI could be integrated into key areas like production and post-production. Just this summer, however, Disney's ambitions were dealt a blow when Disney fired Ben Stanbury, the Vice President of AI and Machine Learning. While the company cited performance issues for his dismissal, I reported today that he was put in an impossible situation. “The pressure to deliver on a short timeline, on a goal set that was unrealistic and with a tech that just isn’t ready” for the giant demands of Disney, set Stanbury up for failure, according to a person close to the situation. It's a setback for Disney, but also illustrative of the broader challenges facing media companies trying to embrace AI. The challenges include dealing with actors and below-the-line talent who vocally oppose the technology, animators and post-production experts pushing back on change, technical limitations and legal concerns. The result is Disney's AI ambitions hitting a wall, a familiar theme that keeps popping up as I dig more into how the technology is being used throughout the industry. While much of the innovation in AI is coming from startups and software companies already experienced in working with technology, media companies have been slow to make meaningful progress. It's why Disney CEO Bob Iger struck a more collaborative tone last week during the company's earnings call, teasing "some interesting conversations with some of the AI companies." It's also why it's unlikely you'll see big innovations coming from the traditional media giants, and why the right partnerships will be so critical in the future. Roger Cheng 
It's becoming a familiar story in Hollywood: Executives have bought into the hype of AI's game-changing capabilities, and pour money into a team, partnership or some other initiative to integrate the technology into the company.... 
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