Disney has appointed Karandeep Anand, the former CEO of AI startup Character.AI, as its first-ever Chief Technology Officer. This appointment follows a previous legal dispute where Disney accused Character.AI of intellectual property infringement.
In September 2025, Disney issued a cease and desist letter to Character.AI, claiming the company was hosting copyrighted characters from its franchises. Character.AI allows users to create and interact with distinct virtual characters using generative AI.
Anand served as CEO of Character.AI from May 2025, having previously been a board adviser. He was selected for the role by new Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro, who took over in March after Bob Iger stepped down.