Disney Poaches 66 Character.AI Staffers for $60 Million a Year Amid Chapter 11
Updated
Updated · Business Insider · Oct 18
Disney Poaches 66 Character.AI Staffers for $60 Million a Year Amid Chapter 11
3 articles · Updated · Business Insider · Oct 18
Summary
$60 million a year is the price Disney agreed to pay 66 Character.AI employees, with a bankruptcy filing showing a further $30 million retention pool and $180 million total over three years.
The hires deepen Disney's AI push under CEO Josh D'Amaro and newly installed tech chief Karandeep Anand, Character.AI's former CEO, even though Disney cut several hundred workers two weeks earlier, including some in tech.
Disney also agreed to pay $20 million for Character.AI's key assets, including intellectual property and technology, though rival bids can still be filed until Nov. 20 under court supervision.
Character.AI entered bankruptcy after lawsuits alleged teens harmed themselves or died by suicide after using its chatbots; the company cited legal, regulatory and operational headwinds.
As Character.AI faces bankruptcy in late 2026, will Disney's strategic talent grab trigger a wave of similar liability-free AI acquisitions?
Could the tragic legal battles that financially crippled Character.AI force the entire AI companion industry to drastically rewrite its safety standards?
With Character.AI's potential shutdown looming, what will ultimately happen to the highly sensitive emotional chat data of its 12 million users?