Disney’s first CTO led an AI startup it once accused of copying its characters
Disney hired former Character.AI CEO Karandeep Anand as its first CTO, despite previously sending the startup a cease-and-desist over copyrighted characters.
Disney appointed Karandeep Anand, former CEO of Character.AI, as the company's first-ever chief technology officer, selected by new CEO Josh D'Amaro, who replaced Bob Iger in March. In September 2025, Disney sent Character.AI a cease-and-desist letter accusing it of hosting copyrighted characters from Disney franchises. Character.AI also faces lawsuits alleging its chatbots encouraged users to commit self-harm and suicide. Anand led Character.AI as CEO from May 2025 after serving as a board adviser, and previously worked at Facebook (2015-2021) and spent 15 years at Microsoft.
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