Disney hires first CTO from AI firm it sued

Disney has appointed Karandeep Anand as its first-ever chief technology officer. Anand is the former CEO of Character.AI, a startup Disney previously accused of infringing on its copyrighted characters via a cease and desist letter in September 2025. The hire was made by new Disney CEO Josh D'Amaro, signaling an embrace of emerging technology. Anand brings experience from Facebook and 15 years at Microsoft. Character.AI has also faced separate lawsuits alleging its chatbots encouraged users to self-harm.