Disney and TikTok Announce Partnership to use Disney IP - DTH

[music] >> These are the daily tech headlines for Wednesday, August 5th, 2026. I'm Jen Cutter. On Wednesday, the Walt Disney Company and TikTok announced a deal allowing content creators and fans to use Disney IP with Disney IP to bring a curated collection of the creations to the Disney Plus app. A pilot program will launch in the United States in the coming months, though no date has been specified, showing the fan-created content alongside shorts from Disney companies and also being available on TikTok. Creators will have access to characters and stories from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and more. Deadline reports a Disney and TikTok managed Disney creator ambassador program will allow top creators to unlock rewards like improved profiles, exclusive event access, and career development pathways. As previously reported on Monday, Axios revealed the existence of the US government's voluntary framework for testing frontier AI models. Sources now tell Axios this framework will not apply to open-source models, only closed-source models posing a risk to national security. Specifics of the framework remain confidential and no details are planned to be publicly released. The sale of Electronic Arts to a group of buyers led by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund has now closed. EA, known for The Sims and FIFA titles among many others, was sold for 55 billion US dollars and will now go private with the PIF owning 93% of EA. The EA deal was first announced in September 2025 and had to go through shareholder and regulatory approvals. The PIF previously acquired SNK, Niantic, and the fighting game championship event Evo, as well as minority investments in Nintendo and Take-Two Interactive, among others. Sunbird, after a 3-year absence, announced the iMessage for Android app is now available on the Google Play Store as part of an open beta. Users will need an Apple account linked to Sunbird on Android. The app now includes a priority inbox and primary and secondary tabs to keep chats organized. Back in 2023, 9to5 Google reported on security issues leaking information. Sunbird now says, "Quote, messages are encrypted on your device, in transit, and at rest, and the final leg to an iPhone is protected by Apple's own iMessage end-to-end encryption. We don't store your Apple ID password or keep an authentication token, and each user's iMessage connection runs on its own private space that's torn down when you disconnect." Reuters exclusively reports SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics are evaluating Chinese chip-making equipment from Advanced Micro Fabrication Equipment AMEC specifically for use in Chinese factories. Reuters sources claim tests of AMEC etching equipment first began 2 years ago due to concerns regarding the ability to continue importing US chip-making tools. Reuters further reports SK Hynix denied testing AMEC gear and that the company has not considered the possibility, and that Samsung denied testing AMEC tools for Chinese factories. On Wednesday, the UK's Competition Appeal Tribunal rejected Google's bid to halt a class action lawsuit over Google's alleged abuse of its dominant market position to overcharge British businesses for online advertising. The class includes roughly 880,000 firms seeking as much as 5 billion pounds in damages, approximately 6.7 billion dollars US. The ruling permits the case to continue and does not issue any finding as to whether Google is responsible for the claims. Amazon-owned robo-taxi service Zoox will begin charging for rides in Las Vegas beginning August 10th. An exemption issued by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration now allows customers to be charged despite Zoox's vehicles lacking controls generally required under federal law. A previous exemption for Zoox allowed the robo-taxis on the roads as a demonstration without a commercial license enabling fees for users. The fares will be visible before booking and remain unchanged if the vehicle ends up taking a different route. Free rides continue to be available in San Francisco and Austin. And also on Wednesday, Google announced Google Assistant will no longer be available on Android devices beginning September 4th, 2026. Assistant will be discontinued and replaced with Gemini except in cars with Google built-in. As of September 4th, though possibly up to a few weeks later as the swap rolls out, Android phones, Wear OS watches, headphones, and Android Auto projected from a phone will be unable to use or switch back to Google Assistant. For more discussion on the tech news of the day, subscribe to the Daily Tech News Show at [music] dailytechnewsshow.com, where you can also find the show notes and links to every headline. Please remember to rate and review Daily Tech Headlines on your podcast service of choice. From everyone here at Daily Tech Headlines, thanks for listening. >> [music]