Disney’s first CTO led an AI startup it once accused of copying its characters
In Brief Posted: 10:59 AM PDT · September 18, 2026 Image Credits:Yujie Chen / Getty Images Lucas Ropek Disney’s first CTO led an AI startup it once accused of copying its characters Disney has hired its first-ever chief technology officer and in a curious twist, the new executive hails from an AI…
In Brief Posted: 10:59 AM PDT · September 18, 2026 Image Credits:Yujie Chen / Getty Images Lucas Ropek Disney’s first CTO led an AI startup it once accused of copying its characters 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.AI 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. Topics AI, character.ai, Disney, entertainment, In Brief, Media & Entertainment, TC October 13 – 15 San Francisco Last day to book an exhibit table is September 18. Don’t miss out on high-impact leads, investor access, and a brand spotlight in Disrupt’s Expo Hall. BOOK NOW Newsletters See More Subscribe for the industry’s biggest tech news Related AI Anthropic’s first embedded evaluator is … Accenture? Tim Fernholz 7 hours ago AI Is the AI safety debate about safety or control? Lucas Ropek 1 day ago AI Microsoft exec called AI scraping ‘the largest theft of labor in human history,’ new unredacted filings reveal Rebecca Bellan 1 day ago Latest in AI Government & Policy India forces caller-ID apps to feed spam reports to telcos Jagmeet Singh 4 hours ago Media & Entertainment Tilly Norwood’s press tour is going about as well as you’d expect for an AI Amanda Silberling 5 hours ago Startups A startup that builds other startups raised $100M and is all-in on physical AI Kirsten Korosec 5 hours agoSource: TechCrunch — Published — Category: Business