Disney offers jobs to at least 60 Character.AI staff

Disney offered jobs to at least 60 employees at Character.AI after the AI-chat startup filed for bankruptcy last week, Swipeline reported Oct. 19, citing court documents reviewed by Bloomberg.

The offers could put Disney’s annual salary cost for those workers at about $60 million, compared with its separate $20 million bid for some Character.AI assets.

Most of the employees who received offers accepted them, according to Swipeline’s report on the court documents. The hiring arrangement does not close the asset-sale process, and other companies could still join if they submit higher bids, the report said.

Disney’s link to Character.AI had already tightened before the bankruptcy process. Karandeep Anand, the startup’s former chief executive, became Disney’s first chief technology officer in September, and Disney later offered $20 million for some of Character.AI’s assets.

Character.AI, founded in 2021, built a platform that lets users chat with AI-powered virtual characters. Swipeline reported that rising operating costs, legal issues and concerns about children’s safety on the platform weighed on the company, which faced multiple lawsuits before filing for bankruptcy last week.

For Disney, the arrangement would bring in workers familiar with character-based generative AI while the ownership of Character.AI’s assets is still unresolved. The next step is the bankruptcy sale process, where a higher offer could still change the outcome.

Source: trade-press report, Swipeline, Oct. 19, 2026