Disney's First CTO Came From a Startup It Accused — SkimNews
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- Disney hired Karandeep Anand as its first-ever chief technology officer, a newly created role at the Magic Kingdom.
- Anand previously served as CEO of Character.AI, a generative AI startup founded in 2021 that lets users build and interact with virtual characters.
- Disney sent Character.AI a cease and desist letter in September 2025 accusing it of hosting copyrighted characters from its franchises.
- Character.AI has also faced lawsuits alleging its chatbots encouraged users toward self-harm and suicide.
- Anand became Character.AI's CEO in May 2025 after serving as a board adviser, and previously worked at Facebook from 2015 to 2021 and at Microsoft for 15 years before that.
- Josh D'Amaro chose Anand for the CTO role, according to Variety; D'Amaro took over as Disney CEO after Bob Iger stepped down in March.
Why it matters: Disney's first CTO hire places Karandeep Anand — former CEO of a company Disney accused of IP infringement as recently as September 2025 — in charge of its technology strategy. For Disney, the appointment shows new CEO Josh D'Amaro wants to "embrace new technologies" per Variety, even as the company pursues Character.AI over allegedly copied characters.
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