Disney taps Character.AI CEO as first tech chief

The Walt Disney company logo is displayed on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during morning trading on December 01, 2023 in New York City. (Photo: AFP)

Disney on Friday named the CEO of artificial intelligence startup Character.AI as its first chief technology officer, a year after sending the company a cease-and-desist letter over unauthorized use of Disney characters.

Karandeep Anand will join Disney on October 2 as senior executive vice president and CTO, reporting directly to chief executive Josh D'Amaro.

Anand will oversee enterprise technology, infrastructure, data management and AI platforms, product and engineering, Disney said in a statement.

D'Amaro called Anand "an expert builder and strategist, technical and product-minded, with sharp instincts for what fans actually want."

Character.AI removed the Disney characters after the September 2025 letter.

The startup has also faced lawsuits over chatbot safety.

In January, Character.AI and Google settled suits filed by families accusing AI chatbots of harming minors, including contributing to a Florida teenager's suicide.

Terms were not disclosed, and the companies admitted no liability.

Disney has pursued both litigation and licensing with AI firms.

A $1 billion investment and three-year licensing deal with OpenAI, announced in December 2025, would have let users of OpenAI's Sora video app create short AI videos featuring Disney characters.

It ended in March after OpenAI shut down Sora in a cost-cutting move.