Disney, The New York Times and Adobe Back New AI Content Coalition ARIAM

A New Heavyweight Coalition Enters the AI Debate

A powerful new alliance has formed to shape how artificial intelligence is built and used across the creative industries. The Alliance for Responsible Innovation in the Arts & Media, known as ARIAM, has launched with a founding roster that reads like a who's who of global media: The Walt Disney Company, The New York Times, Adobe, the BBC, the Financial Times, ITV, Condé Nast, Advance, Reach, Wiley and Cambridge University Press & Assessment.

The Los Angeles-based group is led by Victoria Furniss, a former Netflix and Warner Bros. executive who spent nearly nine years at Netflix navigating the intersection of technology, media and regulation. She is also CEO and co-founder of The Birdella Group.

The Mission

ARIAM's stated mission is to ensure that artificial intelligence is developed and deployed in ways that protect consumers, respect intellectual property, and sustain the global creative economy. The coalition advocates for AI systems that are transparent and include guardrails against deception and exploitation. It warns against harms that erode trust, distort markets, and translate digital misconduct into real-world economic and personal damage.

Crucially, ARIAM positions itself not just as a lobby for news publishers but as a forum for the full spectrum of content industries, spanning entertainment, publishing, music, news, academia and gaming. The group plans to push for what it calls responsible-by-design legal frameworks, directing its funding towards analyses, tools and services that advance those goals as AI regulation accelerates worldwide.

Furniss's Track Record

Furniss is no stranger to industry coalitions. During her time at Netflix she co-founded the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment, an anti-piracy body. In July 2025 she launched AiPhelion, a consulting firm focused on intellectual property issues in the age of AI, alongside co-founders with backgrounds at Disney, Warner Bros. and NBCUniversal. ARIAM represents an expansion of that work into a broader, membership-driven model.

A Crowded Field

The launch arrives as the media industry wrestles with the implications of generative AI on intellectual property and creative labour. Earlier in June, around 30 European and North American media outlets joined the SPUR Coalition, co-founded by the BBC, the Financial Times and Guardian Media Group, which focuses on securing fair payment for news content used by AI systems. Many companies, Disney included, are simultaneously pursuing litigation and partnerships with AI firms, trying to protect their intellectual property while exploring the technology's commercial potential. ARIAM aims to give these players a unified voice as governments draft the rules of the road.