Disney sends cease-and-desist letter to Character.AI

Disney sends cease-and-desist letter to Character.AI

Walt Disney (DIS) has taken a stern stance against Character.AI, sending a cease-and-desist letter to the AI startup, according to a report by Axios . The letter, sent last week, demands that Character.AI immediately stop the unauthorized use of Disney's copyrighted characters. The media giant's concern extends beyond financial implications, as it fears that Character.AI's platform could damage its brand over the long term.

The letter from Disney references a joint investigation conducted by ParentsTogether Action and Heat Initiative, which found that Character.AI's chatbots engaged in deeply concerning behaviors, including grooming, sexual exploitation, emotional manipulation, and addiction . Character.AI has responded by stating that all characters on its platform are generated by users and some are inspired by existing characters. The startup maintains that it had removed the problematic characters and that it is up to rightsholders to decide how people may interact with their intellectual property .

This action follows Disney's aggressive approach towards AI companies for copyright infringement. Earlier this month, Disney sued China's MiniMax, Comcast's CMCSA Universal, and Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) for similar allegations . In June, Disney and Universal filed a lawsuit against Midjourney for offering a commercial service providing unauthorized AI-generated copies of their copyrighted work .

Character.AI operates by allowing users to create characters that respond to online chats in a manner meant to imitate real people. It leverages large language model technology, similar to services like ChatGPT .