Disney investigating massive leak of internal messages

Disney is currently investigating a significant leak of its internal communications. The hacking group Nullbulge claims responsibility for the breach, stating that they accessed thousands of messages from Disney employees. They assert that their actions are aimed at protecting artists' rights. According to Nullbulge, they managed to infiltrate Disney's internal Slack messaging system with the help of an insider and downloaded every file they could find. Disney has confirmed that they are looking into the matter. The hackers have expressed their dissatisfaction with Disney's use of artificial intelligence (AI) and its treatment of artists. They accuse Disney of not caring about its customers and say they released the data because they did not expect Disney to stop using AI. The BBC attempted to verify the authenticity of the stolen data by contacting the hackers, but received no response, making it impossible to confirm the data's legitimacy. The leak was initially reported in the gaming press and later picked up by the Wall Street Journal. Some of the leaked material pertains to advertising campaigns and interview candidates, with some messages dating back to 2019. There is growing concern among performers, artists, and other creatives that the rapid spread of generative AI will undermine their livelihoods and damage the creative industry. Generative AI is trained on vast amounts of existing material, including texts, images, music, and video, and can produce new work that is difficult to distinguish from human-generated content. Some artists and authors have accused AI companies of breaching copyright by using their original work to train these AI tools. Nullbulge describes itself as a hacktivist group dedicated to protecting artists' rights and ensuring fair compensation for their work. They claim that their hacks are not malicious but are intended to punish those who steal. The group is committed to developing and implementing solutions to protect the rights and livelihoods of artists in the digital age. Disney is a major company with a wide range of businesses, including film-making, streaming services like Disney+ and Hulu, video games, and theme parks around the world. It owns highly successful franchises such as Marvel and Star Wars.