Disney Names Character.AI’s Former CEO as First CTO

Character.AI, founded in 2021, lets users create and converse with generative-AI personas. Its rapid growth has also drawn legal and safety scrutiny. Disney sent the startup a cease-and-desist letter in September 2025, alleging unauthorized use of characters from its franchises. Hiring its former chief executive now signals that Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro, who succeeded Bob Iger in March 2026, is putting artificial intelligence and integrated technology higher on the entertainment group’s growth agenda.

The Walt Disney Company said on Sept. 18, 2026, that Karandeep Anand will join as senior executive vice president and its first chief technology officer, effective Oct. 2. Reporting directly to D’Amaro, he will oversee enterprise technology, infrastructure, data and AI platforms, product and engineering across Disney. Several members of Character.AI’s technical team are also expected to join. Anand became Character.AI CEO in May 2025 after serving as a board adviser, and previously held senior roles at Meta, Brex and Microsoft.