body { background: #06080c; color: #e5e9f0; margin: 0; } .rw-nojs-bar { max-width: 880px; margin: 0 auto; padding: 18px 16px 14px; } .rw-nojs-bar .rw-nojs-brand { font: 700 20px/1 Inter, system-ui, sans-serif; color: #e5e9f0; text-decoration: none; } .rw-nojs-nav { max-width: 880px; margin: 0 auto; padding: 0 16px 14px; border-bottom: 1px solid #1c2230; font: 500 14px/1.4 Inter, system-ui, sans-serif; } .rw-nojs-nav a { color: #6f9bff; margin: 0 14px 6px 0; text-decoration: none; display: inline-block; } .rw-nojs-nav a:hover { text-decoration: underline; } .rw-nojs-note { max-width: 880px; margin: 12px auto 0; padding: 0 16px; font: 400 13px/1.5 Inter, system-ui, sans-serif; color: #8a93a6; } #root [data-rw-crawler] { max-width: 880px; margin: 0 auto; padding: 8px 16px 48px; font: 400 16px/1.65 Inter, system-ui, sans-serif; color: #e5e9f0; } #root [data-rw-crawler] a { color: #6f9bff; } #root [data-rw-crawler] h1 { font-size: 28px; line-height: 1.2; } #root [data-rw-crawler] h2 { font-size: 20px; margin-top: 28px; } #root [data-rw-crawler] img { max-width: 100%; height: auto; } #root [data-rw-crawler] ul { padding-left: 0; list-style: none; } #root [data-rw-crawler] li { margin: 0 0 18px; } #root [data-rw-crawler] .rw-pagination { margin: 28px 0 0; display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; gap: 12px; align-items: baseline; } #root [data-rw-crawler] .rw-pagination strong { color: #e5e9f0; } .rw-nojs-footer { max-width: 880px; margin: 40px auto 0; padding: 22px 16px 44px; border-top: 1px solid #1c2230; font: 400 13px/1.6 Inter, system-ui, sans-serif; color: #8a93a6; } .rw-nojs-footer .rw-nojs-fcols { display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; gap: 28px 40px; margin-bottom: 20px; } .rw-nojs-footer h2 { font-size: 11px; letter-spacing: 0.05em; text-transform: uppercase; color: #b7c0d3; margin: 0 0 8px; } .rw-nojs-footer a { color: #6f9bff; text-decoration: none; display: block; margin: 0 0 5px; } .rw-nojs-footer a:hover { text-decoration: underline; } .rw-nojs-footer .rw-nojs-legal { font: 400 12px/1.6 Inter, system-ui, sans-serif; color: #6b7384; margin: 0; } .rw-nojs-footer .rw-nojs-legal a { display: inline; } RuntimeWire Investigations Stories AI Startups Venture Products Funding Exits Models Head-to-Head About You're browsing RuntimeWire with JavaScript disabled. Articles and navigation work fully. Interactive features — search, comments, and newsletter signup — require JavaScript.

Disney names Karandeep Anand, Character.AI's CEO, as its first CTO

Anand starts October 2nd, and Disney says several Character.AI engineers are expected to follow him into the newly centralized role.

By RuntimeWire Staff · Published Sep 18th, 2026, 1:34pm CT

Primary source: The Walt Disney Company

Why it matters

Disney is bringing consumer AI talent inside as it centralizes technology under its new CEO. Anand's Character.AI tenure gives Disney experience in interactive fandom, moderation and AI safety.

Karandeep Anand, dressed professionally, stands thoughtfully in a modern office, with a diverse team in the blurred background.

Disney named Karandeep Anand its first chief technology officer on Friday, recruiting the executive who most recently served as Character.AI's CEO to oversee technology, data and AI across the entertainment group. Disney also expects an unspecified number of Character.AI engineers to join him.…

When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.

Reader comments

Conversation for this story loads after sign-in.

Sections

Investigations Stories AI Startups Venture Products Funding Exits

Publication

About FAQ Contact Editorial Policy Corrections Policy Ethics

Tools

AI Model Pricing Head-to-Head

Legal

Privacy Terms

© 2026 RuntimeWire, Inc. All rights reserved.
An independent startup and technology publication based in Austin, Texas and San Francisco, California. Send tips to tips@runtimewire.com.