India, Oct. 16 -- Artificial intelligence chatbot startup Character.ai has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and plans to pursue a court-supervised sale by the end of the year as it faces mounting legal, regulatory and operational pressures.
Disney has emerged as a potential bidder, agreeing to pay $20 million for certain Character.ai intellectual property and provide transition services through former employees it has hired. The arrangement is expected to help keep the chatbot platform operating during the bankruptcy process.
Founded in 2021 by former Google researchers Noam Shazeer and Daniel de Freitas, Character.ai previously reached a $1 billion valuation following a $150 million funding round. Its bankruptcy filing lists assets of bet...