Disney agreed to pay $60 million to 66 employees from an AI startup that filed for bankruptcy, weeks after tech layoffs
THE SO WHAT
Disney paying roughly $1 million per Character.AI employee—right after layoffs—shows how aggressively incumbents will overpay for concentrated AI talent while cutting elsewhere. If you’re a content or IP-heavy business, assume your AI hiring and acqui-hire strategy will be scrutinized at the board level, not buried in R&D.
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