Disney earmarks $180 million in compensation for the Character.ai team and acquires a bankrupt company’s technology for $20 million

Disney plans to pay about $180 million in compensation and retention bonuses over three years to around 65 former Character.ai employees, and pay the bankrupt company $20 million for the code for its training, safety, and service systems, along with nine patents. The app, brand, user data, and chat logs remain part of the bankruptcy estate and are up for sale; if no other buyer emerges by the end of November, the deal will proceed and the app is expected to shut down.