Disney is bringing dozens of Character.AI employees aboard after hiring the chatbot company’s former CEO, even as its own workforce faces continuing cuts.
The entertainment giant reportedly plans to pay the 66 recruits a combined $60 million annually. The hiring push follows Karandeep Anand’s appointment as Disney’s first companywide chief technology officer.
For employees watching Disney eliminate positions, the contrast is striking. Management is shrinking parts of the organization while investing heavily in the technical expertise it believes will shape the company’s future.
Disney Pays Up for Character.AI Talent
According to Business Insider, bankruptcy filings also reveal a $30 million retention pool to encourage the recruits to stay. Of the 66 employees offered positions, 56 had resigned from Character.AI, while 10 awaited work visa updates.
Disney had already indicated that Anand would bring colleagues with him. Its September 18 announcement said members of Character.AI’s technical team were expected to join, without specifying their number or compensation.
Anand began his newly created role on October 2 and reports directly to CEO Josh D’Amaro. His responsibilities include enterprise technology, infrastructure, data and AI platforms, product, and engineering.
Josh D’Amaro in the welcome video for Disney Parks – YouTube, Wish Upon a Mouse
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Those duties give the former Character.AI executive influence well beyond a single chatbot project. Disney has tasked him with modernizing technology across the organization.
AI Hiring Continues Alongside Layoffs
The investment comes amid another difficult period for Disney’s existing employees.
As That Park Place previously reported, Disney recently eliminated more than 300 positions, primarily in human resources and technology. Further television restructuring could reportedly eliminate hundreds more.
Disney President Dana Walden described the reductions as “extremely painful” during Bloomberg’s Screentime conference. She argued that the company needed to centralize operations as technology reshaped its business.
Dana Walden via Variety YouTube
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Hiring specialists while eliminating other positions can reflect changing business needs. Nevertheless, the spending underscores Disney’s priorities: management is willing to pay substantially for AI expertise while reducing staff elsewhere.
Available reporting does not establish that the recruits are directly replacing individual laid-off workers. Their arrival does, however, illustrate how unevenly Disney’s technology overhaul is affecting its workforce.
Disney Also Pursues Character.AI Technology
The hiring arrangement accompanies a separate proposed deal involving the bankrupt company’s assets.
As reported earlier this week, Disney Worldwide Services agreed to provide $20 million and transition services in exchange for a non-exclusive, perpetual license to certain intellectual property and certain company claims.
The proposed transaction marks a sharp change from September 2025, when Disney threatened copyright action over unauthorized chatbots based on its characters. Roughly a year later, Disney has gone from demanding their removal to hiring the platform’s technical staff and pursuing access to its technology.
Anna, Elsa, and Olaf in A Frozen Holiday Wish – Disney+
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Character.AI’s bankruptcy announcement identifies Disney as the proposed “stalking horse” bidder, setting an opening offer that competitors can exceed. The company expects the sale process to conclude in late November or early December.
Character.AI plans to keep its platform operating during that process. However, it says the service will be wound down if no buyer provides for its continuation. Disney’s proposed license therefore offers users no guarantee that the chatbot platform will survive.
Together, the moves fit D’Amaro’s previously outlined strategy, which identifies potential AI applications across production, monetization, workforce productivity, consumer experiences, and enterprise operations. He has also pledged to keep human creativity central.
Disney is committing substantial resources to that vision, though the benefits for audiences remain uncertain. For employees, the implications are more immediate. As layoffs continue, the company’s investment in Character.AI talent shows which skills management is prepared to pay a premium to secure.
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