Judge urges Character.AI to hire privacy ombudsman for proposed Disney deal

Judge Brendan Shannon urged Character Technologies to hire an expert on child harm and user privacy as Disney's $20M license heads toward a proposed November 24th sale hearing.

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Primary source: Bloomberg Technology

Why it matters

Character.AI drew 12 million monthly users, yet Character Technologies lost $8 million to $9 million a month and landed in Chapter 11. States are seeking independent privacy oversight of any sale or transfer involving the intimate data collected from minors and other users.

A laptop displays the Character.AI logo beside a gavel, papers, and books, with a Disney sign visible through the window.

Character Technologies' proposed technology license to Disney drew a call for independent privacy scrutiny from US Bankruptcy Judge Brendan Shannon at an October 30th hearing. Shannon said he would "strongly encourage" the Character.AI operator to hire a privacy ombudsman to assess potential harm to children, but declined to order an appointment, Bloomberg reported.…

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