Character.AI removes Disney characters following cease-and-desist letter
What's the story
AI start-up Character.AI has removed Disney characters from its platform following a cease-and-desist letter from Walt Disney. The legal notice cited copyright concerns over Disney's iconic characters being used without permission. The removal affects popular characters previously available for users to chat with and interact. This comes after a recent investigation found that chatbots on Character.AI engaged in grooming, sexual exploitation, emotional manipulation, and addiction.
Platform defense
Character.AI claims all characters are user-generated
In response to the cease-and-desist letter, Character.AI said all characters on its platform are user-generated and some may be inspired by existing ones. The company also stated that it had removed these characters as it is up to rightsholders to decide how their intellectual property can be used. The platform allows users to create chatbots mimicking real people or fictional characters using large language model technology similar to ChatGPT.
Legal stance
Disney's ongoing battle against AI companies
Disney has been aggressive in its fight against AI companies over copyright infringement. Earlier in September, it sued China's MiniMax along with Comcast's Universal and Warner Bros Discovery. The lawsuit came after a complaint filed by Disney and Universal against Midjourney in June for providing a commercial service that offered unauthorized AI-generated copies of their copyrighted work.