Deals·October 18, 2026 at 12:30 PM EDT·2 sources
Disney agrees to hire the majority of Character.AI’s workforce
acquisition, log scale$20M
$100M$1B$10B$100B
What happened
- Disney agreed to hire the majority of Character.AI’s workforce after the chatbot startup filed for bankruptcy.
- Character.AI previously said Disney agreed to acquire some of its assets for $20 million.
- Former Character.AI CEO Karandeep Anand recently became Disney’s first CTO.
Reported asset acquisition value
$20 million
Why it matters
The arrangement combines an asset transaction with workforce recruitment following Character.AI’s bankruptcy, relevant to technology M&A, restructuring and venture-backed startup investors.
Deal terms
acquisition
Disney → Character.AI
Value
$20M
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Timeline
Who is involved
acquiringDisney agrees to hire the majority of Character.AI’s workforceCharacter.AItargetDisneybuyerKarandeep Anand
CompanyPersonThe deal
Sources (2)
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