Disney hires former Character.AI chief as its first CTO, months after threatening the company
Disney has appointed Karandeep Anand, the former CEO of Character.AI, as its first chief technology officer, despite having sent the AI company a cease-and-desist letter less than a year earlier.
Disney has named Karandeep Anand, previously the CEO of AI chatbot company Character.AI, as its first-ever chief technology officer, reporting directly to CEO Josh D'Amaro.
In a statement, D'Amaro said Anand brings a rare combination of experience in infrastructure, consumer technology and AI, and that he shares Disney's view of how technology and creativity intersect. D'Amaro, who became CEO in February, has increasingly positioned Disney as a technology company, emphasizing the Disney+ streaming app as central to its future strategy.
As CTO, Anand will oversee enterprise technology as well as Disney's data and AI platforms, and will bring along several technical staff members from Character.AI. Alongside the hire, Disney is also promoting Adam Smith, the former chief product and technology officer for Disney Entertainment and ESPN, to a new role as Chairman of Direct-to-Consumer for Disney Entertainment.
A reversal in tone
The appointment stands in sharp contrast to Disney's stance less than a year ago. In September 2025, Disney sent Character.AI a cease-and-desist letter, accusing the platform of offering chatbots based on Disney characters and arguing they were harmful to children. At the time, Character.AI was already facing wrongful death lawsuits involving multiple underage users.//
Just a few months later, in December 2025, Disney agreed to license its characters to OpenAI for its now-defunct Sora app. The moves suggest that despite earlier legal threats, Disney increasingly views AI expertise as central to its business future.
