Disney consents to employ most of Character.AI's staff

Disney consents to employ most of Character.AI’s staff

Following the recent bankruptcy filing of chatbot firm Character.AI, a number of its staff will have the chance to secure positions at Disney.

Karandeep Anand, the former CEO of Character.AI, has recently been appointed as Disney’s first CTO, and the startup had earlier indicated that Disney had consented to purchase certain assets for $20 million.

A legal document uncovered by Bloomberg has disclosed additional information regarding the deal between Character.AI and Disney, with Disney set to extend job offers to at least 60 employees from Character.AI — which constitutes most of their workforce — with an anticipated annual salary of $60 million.

The document further states that the “overwhelming majority” of Character.AI employees who received job offers from Disney have accepted. Nevertheless, this situation functions as a stalking horse bid, meaning another entity could present a higher proposal.

According to the filing, despite having a “large and engaged user base,” Character.AI has faced challenges due to elevated costs and “potential liabilities related to litigation and regulatory matters.” (The company was sued by the mother of a 14-year-old boy who claimed her son developed an obsession with one of Character.AI’s chatbots prior to his suicide; it is also under scrutiny by the government regarding child safety issues.)

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