Character.AI files for bankruptcy, will sell some assets to Disney for $20M - BERITAJA
Chatbot level Character.AI said connected Monday it has revenge for bankruptcy successful the U.S. and has agreed to waste immoderate assets for US$20 cardinal to Walt Disney.
The generative AI level has faced mounting ineligible challenges complete its chatbots. Earlier this year, Character.AI and Alphabet’s Google settled a suit by the mother of a 14-year-old Florida boy who killed himself aft the startup’s chatbot allegedly encouraged him to do so.
Kentucky has sued the company, saying its chatbots encouraged users to cut, starve aliases termination themselves, while Pennsylvania revenge a suit alleging its chatbots posed arsenic doctors.
According to Character.AI’s proposal, Disney will beryllium a “stalking-horse” bidder — an first prospective purchaser — for a non-exclusive perpetual licence to immoderate intelligence property. Other bidders could apical Disney’s offer.
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Character.AI expects to adjacent the waste of each its assets by precocious November aliases early December. Character Technologies, its U.S.-based owner, listed estimated assets and liabilities of betwixt $50 cardinal and $100 million, according to a tribunal filing.
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Disney will thief the level successful the transition, utilizing unit it has hired from Character.AI. The platform’s services would proceed meanwhile, but would beryllium unopen down if it can’t find a buyer, the institution said.
Two erstwhile Google labor founded Character.AI successful 2021. In 2024, Google licensed its exertion and rehired the founders.
The Financial Times reported successful May 2024 that Meta and Elon Musk’s xAI were competing to partner pinch Character.AI. In July 2024, Musk denied a media study that xAI was considering buying the company.
In September 2025, Disney sent Character.AI a cease-and-desist letter, demanding it extremity utilizing Disney’s copyrighted characters without permission. Character.AI said it had removed them.
