Disney Makes $20 Million Bid for AI Assets in Bankruptcy Auction
Disney is buying up an AI company a piece at a time.
Last month, The Walt Disney Company hired its first Chief Technology Officer, Karandeep Anan, the CEO of Character.ai. Now, Disney is looking to grab up even more of Character.ai, now that the company has declared bankruptcy.
What's Happening:
- Yesterday, Character.ai, a company that allowed users to customize characters to interact with through chatbots, announced it had initiated Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings.
- As part of the bankruptcy, it has put its company assets up for auction. According to Variety, Disney Worldwide Services, a TWDC subsidiary, has become the stalking-horse bidder with a $20 million offer for a “non-exclusive perpetual license of certain Company intellectual property and certain Company claims.”
- The bid comes a month after Character.ai's CEO Karandeep Anan became the first CTO of The Walt Disney Company.
- The deal also includes Character.ai employees coming to work at Disney once the bankruptcy proceedings have concluded, which is expected in November or December.
- Unless another bidder comes in with a major offer, it appears Disney will have ultimately ended up with nearly all of Character.ai, but will have spent a great deal less money than it would have cost to buy the company.
- Not bad considering Character.ai previously received a cease & desist letter from Disney for infringing on copyrights.
More Disney/AI News:
- An upcoming Disney video is reportedly being developed with "AI First."
- AI is part of the reason that future Disney layoffs are expected.
- Disney is currently testing the use of AI in helping guests plan Walt Disney World vacations.