Disney agreed to pay $60 million to 66 employees from an AI startup that filed for bankruptcy, weeks after tech layoffs

Disney is paying up for workforce from an AI chatbot startup that submitted for bankruptcy, shortly following trimming its own tech workforce.

The Mouse House plans to pay $60 myriad per twelvemonth to 66 workers from Character.AI, according to a Chapter 11 filing on Tuesday from its genitor company. In mid-September, Disney hired Character.AI CEO Karandeep Anand to be its first-ever company-wide tech chief. (The business hasn't yet disclosed how much it's paying Anand.)

These additions are part of Disney's AI strategy under CEO Josh D'Amaro, who's been investing in the media giant's tech platforms to assistance jumpstart a stagnant inventory that's up small than 2% in the final 12 months and is downward complete 36% in the final five years.

Disney's decision to bring in these Character.AI staffers came two weeks following it laid off multiple hundred workers — including several tech employees. The late-September cuts were Disney's third important circular of layoffs since D'Amaro took complete in mid-March.

In supplement to the $60 myriad in compensation, Disney is environment apart an additional $30 myriad for an "aggregate preservation pool" to incentivize Character.AI workforce to stay. The business expects to expend $180 myriad on "total compensation and retention" for these staffers in the next three years, the filing said.

Of the 66 Character.AI staffers who were offered jobs by Disney, 56 have already resigned from the AI startup, during the another 10 are waiting for the US authorities to update their activity visas.

Entertainment attorney Corey Martin of Granderson Des Rochers, who advises companies on media transactions, stated he's not amazed by those pay figures since Character.AI's workforce are its biggest asset.

"They're extremely compensated employees. The numbers can be eye-popping, but it's not that different in this space," stated Martin, who didn't activity on the agreement or alongside Disney.

Disney additionally accepted to pay $20 myriad for Character.AI's key assets, including several of its IP and tech. Other companies can present competing bids for the resources by November 20. The complete procedure volition be overseen by a bankruptcy court judge. Disney didn't react to requests for comment for this story.

Character.AI submitted for bankruptcy following facing lawsuits from families who alleged that their teenagers harmed themselves or committed self-destruction following using the company's tradition AI chatbots. The AI startup and Google, one of its backers, settled multiple kid safety lawsuits before this year.

Disney sent a cease-and-desist letter to Character.AI final fall, telling it not to create AI chatbots featuring its copyrighted characters without permission. Character.AI complied, removing chatbots alongside characters from Disney franchises akin Star Wars and Marvel.

In its bankruptcy announcement, Character.AI stated that it had been facing "significant legal, regulatory, and operational headwinds."

Anand told Disney employees in a memo final Friday that the Mouse House was "uniquely positioned to win" in a rivalrous media endeavor that he stated was "at an inflection point." The tech chief additionally stated he enjoyed gathering his new colleagues and looked onward to operating alongside them.

"What stands out most is the endowment and attention this squad puts into its work, the accomplishment Disney has perfected, and the powerful basis you've built," Anand said.