Posted in: Comics, Disney+, Movies, TV | Tagged: ai, disney, marvel
A leaked internal Disney memo is fueling fears that another round of layoffs is on the way, while “The Mouse” makes some big AI moves.
Published Sat, 26 Sep 2026 08:37:11 -0500 by Ray Flook
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During The Walt Disney Company’s quarterly earnings call with Wall Street analysts in May, new CEO Josh D’Amaro and CFO Hugh Johnston were asked by call moderator and investor relations chief Ben Swinburne if they were looking at that moment to “take a fresh look” at how the company operates and what areas had the most room for improvement. While D’Amaro spotlighted an increased focus on how AI could benefit the creative process and the company’s theme parks, Johnston focused on how decisions have and could continue to impact the company directly and contribute to the company’s goal of “a culture of efficiency.”
Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California, United States – May 28, 2023. The Walt Disney Studios is a studio lot which serves as the global headquarters for The Walt Disney Company media conglomerate (JHVEPhoto / Shutterstock.com)
“These are always difficult exercises for the organization, but let me assure you, this management team is acutely focused on this,” Johnston shared. Noting that the company was eyeing a stronger financial focus on content and technology to help drive growth, Johnston said that the layoffs and other staff reductions from the previous month (which hit Marvel Studios and Marvel Entertainment particularly hard) demonstrated “a deliberate shift toward a more agile, technologically enabled and resilient workforce.” As for how that could translate when it comes to additional layoffs or areas of the company feeling the hit, Johnston noted that Disney’s drive to streamline and be more technologically efficient is “an ongoing exercise and a muscle we’re [Disney] building.”
Now, as rumblings of another round of layoffs continue to grow, a memo from Horacio Gutierrez, Disney’s Chief Legal and Global Affairs Officer, is grabbing a ton of attention from all corners of the company. Echoing earlier sentiments from D’Amaro and Johnston, Gutierrez relayed to the LGA department that upcoming layoffs were part of the company’s “transformation process” that involves “automating certain workflows by leveraging the latest technologies.” Though AI isn’t directly referenced in the memo obtained by Deadline Hollywood, sources believe that the implication was there in Gutierrez’s messaging – with many believing that it’s a harbinger of more across-the-board cuts coming sooner rather than later. Writing that he is “taking a dispassionate look at every aspect of how we do our work, so we can do it in a more efficient and cost-effective manner,” Gutierrez made it clear that the LGA “will be a much smaller organization than it is today” once layoffs and administrative changes roll out.
“Obviously, this will require hard choices about where and how we deploy our resources and investments, including our staffing investments and how we work will look different in the months and years ahead,” he added. “LGA will be a much smaller organization than it is today, and some of you will personally be affected by decisions we make in this process. As a result, we’ll have to consider a whole range of new models for different workloads, including automating certain workflows by leveraging the latest technologies, moving to self-service models where appropriate, engaging alternative legal providers and others, and new expanded share services, even outsourcing.” As Gutierrez sees it, the move is in line with the Disney CEO’s vision for the company. “Josh’s vision is of a Disney that succeeds in a changing market by breaking internal walls and embracing technology to amplify what makes it great, not by clinging to the way things always have been done,” he added.
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Some additional points to keep in mind:
During the same week that Gutierrez’s memo hit, ex-Character.AI CEO Karandeep Anand was announced as Disney’s first Chief Technology Officer, reporting directly to D’Amaro.
Earlier this week, Disney posted a job opening for a director of AI enablement and legal engineering. The individual will “redesign legal workflows using AI systems and implement other technology-related solutions for contract review, legal research, and regulatory analysis.” In addition, the individual will be responsible for evaluating “whether Disney should build AI systems internally or buy them from outside vendors, measure the return on investment for AI, and help lawyers adopt new workflows.”
The news comes as the deadline for Marvel Comics employees to decide whether to move from the shuttered New York office to the offices in Burbank, California, which is also home to Marvel Studios and Disney’s corporate headquarters. In addition, the deadline approaches for longtime Disney executives who qualify to take the company’s voluntary early retirement offer.
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