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Disney Offers Jobs to at Least 60 Character.AI Workers
Disney has agreed to offer jobs to at least 60 Character.AI employees, with estimated annual compensation of $60 million. The hiring terms accompany Disney’s $20 million stalking-horse bid for selected Character.AI assets in bankruptcy.
AI.info Team · Written with AI ·
At least 60 offers, most accepted
Disney has agreed to offer jobs to at least 60 Character.AI employees, a majority of the startup’s workforce, according to details from a legal filing reported by TechCrunch on October 18. The positions carry an estimated $60 million in annual compensation. The filing says the “vast majority” of employees who received offers accepted them.
The employment terms sit alongside a separate $20 million offer from Disney for selected Character.AI assets. Disney is the proposed stalking-horse bidder, meaning its offer sets a starting point for a court-supervised sale that could still attract a higher bid. The arrangement is not a completed purchase of Character.AI as a whole.
A talent move alongside a bankruptcy sale
Character.AI filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier in the week. The company’s October announcement described Disney’s bid as a non-exclusive, perpetual license to certain intellectual property and claims, with transition services supplied by former employees Disney has hired. The proposed sale remains subject to competing offers.
The figures distinguish the workforce deal from the asset bid: the $60 million is estimated annual employee compensation, while $20 million is the stated amount for the selected assets and related claims. The filing’s hiring detail adds scale to a staff transfer that Character.AI had previously described more generally. In September, the company said its chief executive, Karandeep Anand, would join Disney and that members of its technical team were expected to follow.
Anand joined Disney before the bankruptcy filing
Disney announced on September 18 that Anand would become its senior executive vice president and chief technology officer, effective October 2. The company called it a newly created role, and said Anand would report to chief executive Josh D’Amaro. The additional offers would move a wider group of Character.AI staff into Disney as the startup’s court-supervised sale proceeds.
“Karandeep brings a rare mix of experience across infrastructure, consumer technology and AI, and will be a vital addition to Disney’s senior leadership team as we further our three priorities: great storytelling as our North Star, technology in service of creativity, and operating as One Disney,” Josh D’Amaro, Disney chief executive, said in the company’s announcement of Anand’s appointment.
The offer can still be topped
Disney’s position as stalking-horse bidder does not guarantee that it will acquire the assets. Another buyer can submit a higher offer during the bankruptcy sale process, TechCrunch reported. The employee offers are a separate part of the agreement, and the filing says most recipients have already accepted them.
For Character.AI, the arrangement pairs the transfer of much of its staff with a sale process for selected assets. For Disney, it brings dozens of employees from a company built around conversational AI into its technology organization, alongside Anand’s appointment. Both the asset transaction and the bankruptcy process remain subject to court oversight.