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.
- Karandeep Anand became Character.AI CEO in May 2025 after serving as board adviser.
- Disney sent Character.AI a cease-and-desist in September 2025 over copyrighted characters.
- Character.AI faces separate lawsuits over chatbots allegedly encouraging self-harm and suicide.
- New Disney CEO Josh D'Amaro chose Anand, signaling the company will embrace new technologies.
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In Brief
Posted:
10:59 AM PDT · September 18, 2026
Disney has hired its first-ever chief technology officer and in a curious twist, the new executive hails from an AI startup that the Magic Kingdom previously accused of infringing on its IP.
Karandeep Anand is the former CEO of Character.AI, a company that has weathered numerous legal problems since it was founded in 2021. One of those legal problems arose in September 2025, when Disney sent the company a cease and desist letter accusing it of infringing on its beloved characters.
Character.AI allows users to create distinct virtual characters with generative AI and talk and interact with them. Disney previously claimed that the company was hosting copyrighted characters from its franchises.
In addition to Disney’s accusations, Character.AI has also been sued over allegations that the company’s chatbots encouraged users to commit self-harm and suicide.
Variety reports that Anand was chosen for the role by new Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro, who took over after former company chief Bob Iger stepped down in March. The hiring suggests D’Amaro wants the company to embrace new technologies.
Anand formerly served as a board adviser to Character before becoming CEO in May 2025, according to his LinkedIn profile. He also worked at Facebook between 2015 and 2021 and, before that, spent 15 years at Microsoft.
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Text extracted automatically; images, tables and formatting may be missing. Original: https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/18/disneys-first-cto-led-an-ai-startup-it-once-accused-of-copying-its-characters/