Disney offers $20M for Character.AI’s scandal-plagued chatbot tech
- Who
- Disney
- What
- offered to buy Character.AI chatbot technology for $20 million
- Quote
Beyond the $20 million Disney has offered, Character Technologies “listed estimated assets and liabilities of between $50 million and $100 million,” NBC News reported .
What happened
Disney has offered $20 million for Character.AI’s chatbot technology through Character Technologies’ bankruptcy sale process. Character.AI says the platform will remain accessible and subscriptions will continue to be charged, with the sale expected to conclude by the end of November or perhaps early December 2026. The company declined to comment on whether sensitive data might be sold; its privacy policy permits transferring identifying information, voice data, and chat logs during asset sales.
The story so far
Character.AI has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and is pursuing a $20 million transaction with Disney, while its platform remains accessible and subscriptions continue to be charged. TechCrunch reported that the company agreed to sell some assets and grant Disney a non-exclusive, perpetual technology license; Ars Technica described Disney’s proposal as an offer for the chatbot technology through Character Technologies’ bankruptcy sale process. Character.AI, which lets users create AI characters and converse with them, filed after facing lawsuits and difficulties scaling its platform. It reported estimated assets and liabilities each between $50 million and $100 million. CEO Colin Adams said operations would continue during the sale process, expected to conclude in late November or early December 2026. The platform will be wound down if no suitable bid emerges to sustain it. Character.AI’s privacy policy permits transferring identifying information, voice data and chat logs during asset sales. That permission does not establish that those records are included in the Disney transaction.
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