AI news · Disney · Character.AI
Disney sets $180 million for 66 Character.AI hires
A filing in the chatbot maker’s bankruptcy shows the staff Disney is taking on cost nine times its $20 million bid for the technology.
Disney expects to spend about $180 million over three years on the Character.AI staff it is hiring, a filing in the chatbot maker’s bankruptcy case shows. Business Insider reported the figures, which Benzinga and Pirates & Princesses relayed on Saturday 17 October 2026.
Character.AI filed for Chapter 11 on 12 October. That US process keeps a company running while a court oversees a sale, and Disney opened the bidding at $20 million for a licence to some of its technology. The new filing covers the people. Sixty-six employees accepted Disney offers. Fifty-six have resigned. The other 10 start once their US visas come through.
The pay comes to about $60 million a year, close to $900,000 per person on average, Pirates & Princesses calculates. That total includes a $30 million retention pool, Benzinga reports.
Other buyers can bid until 20 November, with an auction on 23 November and a sale hearing the next day. Disney already hired Karandeep Anand, Character.AI’s boss, in September to lead technology across the whole company for the first time.
For media groups shopping for AI skills, the filing puts a price on it: the team costs nine times the technology licence.
Earlier on this story: Character.AI files for bankruptcy with Disney as first bidder
Sources
- Benzinga: Disney to Spend $60 Million a Year on Character.AI Talent After Its Own Layoffs as AI Startup Faces Bankruptcy. Checked
- Pirates & Princesses: Disney to pay $60 million a year for 66 Character.AI workers. Checked
Alexandre S.
Alexandre S. is a creative ad strategist and copywriter with ten years' experience in digital marketing across multiple channels.
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