Disney hires Character.AI CEO amid IP dispute
disney hired karandeep anand, former ceo of character.ai, as its first cto, despite accusing the ai startup of infringing on its ip. this signals disney's push into new technologies.
disney has appointed karandeep anand, former ceo of character.ai, as its first chief technology officer. character.ai, founded in 2021, allows users to create virtual characters with generative ai. disney had sent a cease and desist letter to character.ai in september 2025, accusing it of hosting copyrighted characters. anand became ceo of character.ai in may 2025 and previously worked at facebook and microsoft. this hiring, chosen by disney's new ceo josh d'amaro, signals disney's push into new technologies.