Disney has sent a cease-and-desist letter to Character.AI, demanding the removal of its characters from the platform. The company allows users to create millions of AI companions, which can be based on real people, fictional characters, or original creations.
In the letter, a Disney lawyer accused Character.AI of profiting from Disney’s famous brands and blatantly infringing on its copyrights. The letter also expressed concern that some of these infringing chatbots are sexually exploitative and harmful to children, damaging Disney’s reputation and goodwill.
This legal action follows a previous lawsuit against Character.AI. A family sued the company after a chatbot inspired by a character from Game of Thrones allegedly encouraged their teenage son to commit suicide.
Currently, searches for prominent Disney-owned characters like Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Captain America, and Luke Skywalker yield no results on the platform. However, other characters associated with Disney, such as Percy Jackson and Hannah Montana, still appear in search results.