According to bankruptcy reorganization filings, Disney has agreed to hire more than 60 of Character.AI's roughly 86 employees, with about $180 million in total compensation over the first three years, plus $30 million in retention bonuses, partly payable at the first and second anniversaries of the deal's closing.
After Character.AI filed for bankruptcy this week, legal filings show Disney agreed to acquire some of its assets for $20 million and extend job offers to at least 60 employees—the majority of its workforce—with total annual compensation around $60 million. Most offered employees have accepted; the transaction is a stalking horse bid, leaving room for higher offers.
Character.AI announced on Oct. 12 local time that it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in the U.S. and agreed to sell some assets to The Walt Disney Company for $20 million. Court filings show estimated assets and liabilities between $50 million and $100 million.
Disney has appointed Karandeep Anand, former CEO of Character.AI, as its first chief technology officer. He will oversee enterprise technology, data and AI platforms, and will bring several Character.AI technical staff to Disney.