Character.AI
Character.AI filed voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Delaware on Oct 12 2026 to sell itself under court supervision. A law‑enforcement notice of interest was filed by the National Association of Attorneys General and New York Attorney General Letitia James. In the bankruptcy proceedings, Disney Worldwide Services, serving as the stalking‑horse bidder, has agreed to offer employment to at least 60 of Character.AI’s employees – the majority of its workforce – and will pay an estimated $60 million per year in compensation. The “vast majority” of those employees accepted the offers. Disney also purchased some of Character.AI’s IP for a $20 million, non‑exclusive, perpetual license. Character.AI was founded in 2021 by Noam Shazeer and Daniel De Freitas from ex‑Google researchers. It previously raised a $150 million round at a $1 billion valuation and was acquired in 2024 by Google for $2.7 billion. ProgramBench includes tasks for building the FFmpeg media utility.· Entity summary generated by Graphiti
Relation timeline
BY VALID-FROM DATE- ProgramBenchINCLUDES TASK FORCharacter.AI
ProgramBench includes tasks for building the FFmpeg media utility.
- Character.AIHAS STAFF MOVING TODisney
Character.ai’s remaining staff is transitioning to Disney
- DisneyBOUGHT ASSETS FROMCharacter.AI
Disney bought some of Character.ai’s assets
- National Association of Attorneys GeneralFILED NOTICE OF INTEREST INCharacter.AI
National Association of Attorneys General filed a notice of interest in Character.AI
- DisneyWILL ACQUIRECharacter.AI
Disney will acquire Character.AI
- Character.AILOST KEY STAFF AFTERGoogle
Character.AI lost key staff after the Google transaction
- Social Media Victims Law CenterDECLINED TO COMMENT ONCharacter.AI
Social Media Victims Law Center declined to comment on Character.AI
- Tech Justice Law ProjectDECLINED TO COMMENT ONCharacter.AI
Tech Justice Law Project declined to comment on Character.AI
- DisneyOFFER EMPLOYMENT TO AT LEAST 60 EMPLOYEESCharacter.AI
Disney offered employment to at least 60 Character.AI employees
- DisneyAGREES WITHCharacter.AI
Disney agrees to hire the majority of Character.AI’s workforce
- DisneyACQUIRED ASSETS FROM FOR 20MCharacter.AI
Disney acquired some of Character.AI's assets for $20 million
- DisneyPAY COMPENSATION FORCharacter.AI
Disney will pay an estimated $60 million in annual compensation for the hired Character.AI employees
- Character.AIACCEPTS OFFER FROMDisney
Character.AI employees accepted the employment offers from Disney
- Character.AISELLING ASSETS TODisney
Character.AI announced it was selling some assets to Disney
- New York Attorney General Letitia JamesFILED NOTICE OF INTEREST INCharacter.AI
New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a notice of interest in Character.AI's bankruptcy case
- DisneyOFFERS FORCharacter.AI
Disney offers $20M for Character.AI's scandal‑plagued chatbot tech
- Character.AIFOUNDED BYGoogle
Character.ai was founded by ex‑Google researchers
- Noam ShazeerCO FOUNDEDCharacter.AI
Noam Shazeer co‑founded Character.ai
- Daniel De FreitasCO FOUNDEDCharacter.AI
Daniel De Freitas co‑founded Character.ai
- Character.AIAPPEARED ONTHE DECODER
The article about Character.ai first appeared on The Decoder
- Character.AISOLD ASSETS TODisney
Character.ai sold some assets to Disney for $20 million, including a perpetual, non-exclusive technology license
- Disney Worldwide ServicesWAS STALKING HORSE BIDDER FORCharacter.AI
Disney Worldwide Services signed on before the filing as the stalking‑horse bidder for Character.AI.
- Disney Worldwide ServicesOFFERED LICENSE TOCharacter.AI
Disney Worldwide Services offered $20 million for a non‑exclusive, perpetual license to some of Character.AI’s intellectual property.
- Character.AIFILED BANKRUPTCY CASE INMarvell Technology
Character.AI filed for voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Delaware on October 12 to sell itself under court supervision.
- Federal Trade CommissionORDEREDCharacter.AI
Federal Trade Commission ordered Character.AI and six other tech companies to explain how they protect minors.
- Skydance CorporationSUEDCharacter.AI
Megan Garcia sued Character.AI, its founders, and Google after Google re‑hired the founders.
- GoogleACQUIREDCharacter.AI
Google acquired Character.ai in a $2.7 billion deal in 2024
- Andreessen HorowitzLED FUNDING ROUND FORCharacter.AI
Andreessen Horowitz led a $150 million funding round that valued Character.AI at $1 billion three and a half years ago.
- Daniel De FreitasCO FOUNDEDCharacter.AI
Daniel De Freitas co‑founded Character.AI in 2021.
- Noam ShazeerCO FOUNDEDCharacter.AI
Noam Shazeer co‑founded Character.AI in 2021.
- DisneyMAY ACQUIRECharacter.AI
Disney may acquire tech from Character.AI
Relations are facts Graphiti extracted from reports, not verbatim quotes. An end date means later reporting showed the relation no longer holds.
Events 5
- Import AI 478: Math for alignment; ProgramBench; and Mirendil shows what RSI means1 cited report · 2026-10-26
- Tolan snags $30M for its AI companion that helps users navigate life1 cited report · 2026-10-20
- Disney found a way to buy Character.AI without buying its lawsuits3 cited reports · 2026-10-19
- Now that Character.AI is going bankrupt, what happens to all of its users’ data?1 cited report · 2026-10-15
- Disney offers $20M for Character.AI’s scandal-plagued chatbot tech1 cited report · 2026-10-14
Source reports 8
- Import AI 478: Math for alignment; ProgramBench; and Mirendil shows what RSI meansImport AI · 2026-10-26
- Tolan snags $30M for its AI companion that helps users navigate lifeTechCrunch · AI · 2026-10-20
- Disney found a way to buy Character.AI without buying its lawsuitsArs Technica · AI · 2026-10-19
- Disney agrees to hire the majority of Character AI’s workforceTechCrunch · AI · 2026-10-19
- Now that Character.AI is going bankrupt, what happens to all of its users’ data?The Verge · AI · 2026-10-15
- Character.AI Files for Bankruptcy as Disney Bids $20 Million—And Users Get Grief ResourcesDecrypt · 2026-10-14
- Disney offers $20M for Character.AI’s scandal-plagued chatbot techArs Technica · AI · 2026-10-14
- Character.ai will shut down if no buyer emerges, capping a fall from $2.7 billion Google deal to bankruptcyThe Decoder · 2026-10-13