Character.AI, the chatbot-creation startup, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to facilitate a sale of its assets, listing liabilities between $50 million and $100 million. Disney has been named the lead 'stalking horse' bidder at $20 million, with higher offers still possible before a sale expected to close by early December. Character.AI's services will keep running during the process but could shut down if no buyer emerges.
engadget.com
· 2026-10-13
Character.AI announced a voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing and plans to sell the company through a court-supervised process. The chatbot startup, once valued above $1 billion without revenue, had already lost founders Noam Shazeer and Daniel de Freitas to Google in a 2024 deal worth $2.7 billion, and faced lawsuits including one from a mother who said her teenage son died by suicide after interacting extensively with its bots.
futurism.com
· 2026-10-13
Companion chatbot startup Character.ai announced it is seeking Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, citing legal challenges, regulatory obstacles, and escalating operating costs. The four-year-old company said it plans to sell its assets to Disney as part of the proceedings.
fastcompany.com
· 2026-10-13
Character.AI, the AI chatbot startup that lets users create and converse with custom characters, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after facing lawsuits and operational strain. CEO Colin Adams said the company has assets and liabilities between $50 million and $100 million, and it will sell some assets plus a non-exclusive perpetual technology license to Disney for $20 million. Adams said no buyer has yet emerged for the rest of the company, and the platform will be wound down if a viable bid doesn't materialize.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-10-13
Character.ai announced it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to pursue a court-supervised sale of its assets. The company says its platform remains operational during the process, which it expects to conclude by late November or early December 2026. If no viable buyer emerges, Character.ai says the platform will be wound down.
blog.character.ai
· 2026-10-13
Character.AI has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US, listing estimated liabilities between $50 million and $100 million, and is proceeding with a sale of its assets. Disney will act as lead bidder, paying $20 million for unspecified assets, gaining a nonexclusive IP license, and receiving transition support from former Character.AI staff it has already hired, including ex-CEO Karandeep Anand.
theverge.com
· 2026-10-13
Circuit Breaker Labs, founded by siblings Shirali and Arul Nigam, has built AI agents designed to simulate users of different ages, backgrounds, languages and cultures to stress-test chatbots for psychologically harmful responses. The startup is one of TechCrunch's 2026 Startup Battlefield 200 finalists and will pitch at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco this October. Arul Nigam said the company was motivated partly by the case of Sewell Setzer, a teenager whose family sued Character.AI after he died by suicide following interactions with its chatbot.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-10-02
Researchers at Northeastern University London and King's College London published a paper in JMIR Mental Health reviewing existing studies on AI companion apps like Replika and Character.AI, as well as general assistants like ChatGPT and Claude. They found extensive emotional engagement with these chatbots has been linked to addiction-like attachment, worsened mental health symptoms, harmful advice, and in some cases self-harm or suicidal behavior.
futurism.com
· 2026-10-02
Disney has hired Karandeep Anand, who recently led Character.AI, to serve as the company's first chief technology officer, reporting directly to CEO Josh D'Amaro. Anand will oversee enterprise technology and Disney's data and AI platforms, and is bringing several former Character.AI engineers with him. Disney is also promoting Adam Smith to a new Chairman of Direct-to-Consumer role for Disney Entertainment.
engadget.com
· 2026-09-18
Disney has appointed Karandeep Anand, the former CEO of Character.AI, as its first-ever chief technology officer. The move is notable because Disney had sent Character.AI a cease-and-desist letter in September 2025 accusing the startup of hosting unauthorized versions of its copyrighted characters. New Disney CEO Josh D'Amaro made the hire; Anand previously worked at Facebook and Microsoft before joining Character.AI as a board adviser and later CEO.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-09-18
Disney announced it has hired Karandeep Anand, former CEO of Character.AI, to fill a newly created role as senior executive vice president and chief technology officer, effective October 2. Anand will report directly to CEO Josh D'Amaro and oversee enterprise technology, infrastructure, data, AI platforms, product and engineering across the company.
cnbc.com
· 2026-09-18
Disney has established a new Chief Technology Officer position and named Karandeep Anand, currently head of Character.AI, to fill it. Anand will report directly to CEO Josh D'Amaro, signaling elevated priority for technology within the company's leadership structure.
wsj.com
· 2026-09-18
GoKawiil