# Disney Hires First CTO

> Disney appoints AI chatbot ex-CEO as its first CTO.
- Title: Disney Hires First CTO · Variety | Shortify
- Summary: Disney appoints AI chatbot ex-CEO as its first CTO. Disney hired Karandeep Anand, former Character.AI CEO, as its first CTO after resolving copyright…
- Keywords: karandeep anand, disney, character ai, cto, ai chatbot, copyright dispute, entertainment, culture, Hires, First, Variety
- Source: Variety — https://variety.com/2026/biz/news/disney-cto-karandeep-anand-character-ai-1236866528
- Author: Todd Spangler
- Published: 2026-09-18T15:57:43+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: karandeep anand, disney, character ai, cto, ai chatbot, copyright dispute, entertainment, culture
## Disney appoints cto
Disney chief Josh D’Amaro named Karandeep Anand as its first chief technology officer.
## Anand's background
Anand led Character.AI, an ai chatbot company, before joining Disney.
## Copyright dispute
Disney accused Character.AI of copyright infringement and sent a cease-and-desist letter.
## Resolution
Character.AI removed Disney characters from its platform after Disney's request.
## Next steps
Disney aims to become a tech-forward entertainment company with Anand's expertise.
## Key takeaway

Disney hired Karandeep Anand, former Character.AI CEO, as its first CTO after resolving copyright disputes.