Utopai Studios appoints former Disney AI leader Hans Ku as CPO

Mountain View-based Utopai Studios has recruited Hans Ku, the former Vice President of AI and Engineering at The Walt Disney Company, as its Chief Product Officer. Ku will oversee the development of the studio's PAI system to support approximately 25 film and TV projects scheduled for release starting in 2027.

Utopai Studios, a global AI-native studio, has recruited Hans Ku, who led AI strategies at The Walt Disney Company, as its Chief Product Officer (CPO).

Until recently, CPO Hans Ku served as Vice President of AI and Engineering at The Walt Disney Company, where he was responsible for establishing generative content and AI model strategies and researching AI-based production pipelines. In particular, he played a key role in the collaboration between The Walt Disney Company and OpenAI's video-generating AI, Sora, leading cooperation between OpenAI's research and product organizations and business units within The Walt Disney Company, and participating in the formulation of strategies to utilize generative video technology in content production and business.

Headquartered in Mountain View, California, Utopai Studios is a global AI-native film and TV studio. It covers the entire process from content planning and development to investment, production, and distribution, collaborating with filmmakers and studios worldwide to present various works. Through its independently developed cinematic storytelling AI system, PAI, the studio supports the entire content production process, including story and character development, storyboard creation, video generation, and editing.

As CPO, Hans Ku will oversee product development, engineering, research, and business development at Utopai Studios. His role involves advancing PAI and applying it to actual film and TV production sites. To this end, he will lead the development of the PAI App for filmmakers, PAI Code for developers and AI agents, and enterprise solutions, while also expanding cooperation with external studios and technology companies.

Through this recruitment, Utopai Studios aims to strengthen the link between film and TV production sites and AI technology development. The company plans to reflect feedback obtained from production sites into the improvement of PAI's AI models, workflows, and collaboration tools, and intends to apply PAI to the production environments of external studios and production companies in the future. Plans are also being made to manage production records so that content rights and the origins of AI-generated content can be tracked.

Cecilia Shen, CEO and co-founder of Utopai Studios, said, "CPO Hans Ku has experience applying experimental new technologies to global businesses. Based on his experience in various projects, such as the collaboration between The Walt Disney Company and OpenAI Sora, he will play an important role in strengthening Utopai's technological competitiveness and content production capabilities."

CPO Hans Ku expressed his ambition, stating, "Utopai Studios has the strength to directly reflect requirements identified in the actual film production process into technology development and the improvement of workflows using that technology. Based on the principle that the initiative of creation belongs to the creators, I will support filmmakers in materializing their ideas and realizing the works they desire."

Meanwhile, Utopai Studios is developing and producing approximately 25 film and TV projects. Major works are scheduled to enter production this year and will be released sequentially starting from 2027. The lineup scheduled for release in 2027 includes three feature films, Cortés, Half Moon, and The Most Serious Fart, as well as two series, Space Nation and Journey to the West.

Read the original (Korean)