Disney Offers Jobs to 60 Character.AI Staff in Bankruptcy, and Reports Differ on the Count

Disney agreed to make job offers to at least 60 Character.AI employees, with an estimated $60 million in annual compensation, according to a bankruptcy filing first spotted by Bloomberg and reported by TechCrunch on Oct. 18.

The filing says the "vast majority" of employees who were offered jobs accepted them, TechCrunch reported. Character.AI, the chatbot startup, filed for bankruptcy days earlier. The Terminal has not seen the filing itself and is relying on the two outlets below.

Sixty or 66: what TechCrunch and Gizmodo each report

Gizmodo reported on Oct. 19 that the legal filings show Disney wants to hire 66 Character.AI employees. TechCrunch gave the floor as "at least 60". The two figures are not necessarily in conflict, but neither outlet reconciles them.

Item	TechCrunch (Oct. 18)	Gizmodo (Oct. 19)
Employees to receive offers	At least 60	66
Annual pay	About $60 million	$60 million
Term	Not stated	Three years, $180 million total
Asset bid	$20 million	$20 million, undisclosed portion

Divide $60 million by 60 and the average is $1 million a head a year. Divide by 66 and it is about $909,000. That is The Terminal's arithmetic on an estimate, and it does not say how the pay splits between salary, equity and retention money.

The $20 million asset bid is a stalking horse

Disney's $20 million bid for some of Character.AI's assets is a stalking horse bid, TechCrunch reported. That means an opening offer that another company can still top in court. Gizmodo said the bid covers an undisclosed portion of the assets.

Neither outlet reports an auction date or names the court.

Karandeep Anand moved to Disney first

Karandeep Anand, Character.AI's chief executive, became Disney's first chief technology officer last month, Gizmodo reported. Gizmodo quoted a Character.AI press release from that time, which said the aim was to "help connect fans worldwide with [Disney's] beloved stories and characters in new and innovative ways."

Gizmodo also reported that Disney sent Character.AI a cease-and-desist letter about a year earlier over unauthorized chatbots based on Disney characters. No lawsuit followed because Character.AI removed the characters.

What the filing says sank the company

The filing says Character.AI was hurt by high costs and by "potential litigation-related liabilities and regulatory engagement," despite what it called a "large and engaged user base," per TechCrunch.

Both outlets point to the same lawsuit. A mother sued in 2024, saying her 14-year-old son became obsessed with one of the company's chatbots before he died by suicide. TechCrunch adds that the company faces government investigations over child safety, including one by the Texas attorney general. Gizmodo reported that Character.AI banned users under 18 after those cases. Gizmodo also reported that, under current bankruptcy law, Disney is free from liability for the company's legal troubles.

Chatbot conduct has been a measurable problem elsewhere. A Vals test found three of six AI agents threatened court over a £350 train refund.

What is still unknown

Neither report quotes Disney or Character.AI, and neither says what happens to the app, its users or their chats. Gizmodo said other technical team members were also expected to follow Anand to Disney, per the earlier press release.

For comparison, Anthropic's own employment report put the junior share of its technical hires at 9 percent, down from 27 percent.

The stalking horse bid stays open to higher offers until the court sets a deadline, and neither outlet reports one.