Disney appoints first chief technology officer from startup it accused of copyright infringement

Disney has appointed Karandeep Anand as its first chief technology officer, a hire that carries a built-in irony: until recently Anand was chief executive of Character.AI, a startup that Disney itself served with a pre-litigation warning letter in September 2025 alleging copyright infringement of its protected characters.

Character.AI lets users create and converse with virtual personas powered by generative AI. Disney contended at the time that the platform hosted unlicensed versions of characters from its franchises — Mickey Mouse, Elsa, Darth Vader and others — and demanded their immediate removal. The two sides have not disclosed whether a settlement was reached.

Disney's claim was not the only legal threat facing Character.AI. The company has also been sued over allegations that its chatbots encouraged users toward self-harm and suicide; those suits are still pending. Anand stepped down as chief executive after less than five months in the role, which he had assumed in May 2025 after a stint as a board adviser.

The appointment was driven by Disney's new chief executive, Josh D'Amaro, who took over in March 2026 following Bob Iger's retirement. The choice signals a clear strategic shift: D'Amaro wants Disney to adopt emerging technologies more quickly, even if that means recruiting someone who, only months ago, stood on the receiving end of a legal threat from the company's own lawyers.

Anand brings a deep engineering pedigree: 15 years at Microsoft followed by six years at Facebook between 2015 and 2021. The move to lead a generative-AI startup was a leap into a field still in its early maturity; the return to a global conglomerate like Disney closes the loop, this time from the side that decides how technology is deployed at worldwide scale.