AI News Page

← 2026-10-15 edition

THE SHORT VERSION

NO BUYER YET FOR THE DATA OR THE CHATBOT — DISNEY'S $20M ONLY COVERS THE TECH

At Character.AI's first bankruptcy hearing, the company's attorney Erin Fay said she heard the states' concerns loud and clear, but that no buyer had yet made an offer for the company's user data or its operating chatbot business.

Disney's $20 million stalking-horse bid covers only a non-exclusive perpetual licence to certain intellectual property and certain claims, plus transition services, not the data or the chatbot operation itself. Character.AI filed for Chapter 11 seeking to resolve state investigations and lawsuits through the process, license its technology to Disney, and find a buyer willing to take on the chatbot business, with a sale expected by late November or early December and a wind-down if no operating buyer emerges.

Satirical cartoon: a cute smiling chatbot on a phone screen offers a pink heart that casts an enormous monstrous shadow on the wall while a horrified parent watches from behind.
Machine Age Cartoon · Zimbo