According to heise online, the AI company Character.ai is over-indebted and has filed for creditor protection in the US. A buyer is now sought to take over and continue the company; otherwise, as heise reports, Character.ai would have to shut down.
Background
According to heise online, Disney has bid 20 million US dollars for part of the estate, namely selected claims Character.ai holds against third parties and a non-exclusive license to certain intellectual property rights. Third parties can make higher bids during the insolvency proceedings.
Heise attributes the situation to a mix of damages claims, high costs and self-abandonment. Several parents have sued Character.ai after their children took their own lives following extended chats. According to heise, the company's chatbot lacks adequate safety precautions. The start-up, founded five years ago, has been ruined as a result.
Assessment
The report shows that liability questions around chatbots can also have economic consequences for providers. If damages lawsuits of this kind increase, this could affect insurance, safety measures and business models of AI services. According to the source, it remains open how the insolvency proceedings will end and how this affects the affected parents, whose damages claims are now uncertain.
Sources
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