该公司周一表示，Character.AI已在美国申请第11章破产保护，并锁定迪士尼作为其部分资产的首位竞购者。
Character.AI has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US and lined up Disney as the first bidder for some of its assets, the company said on Monday.
这家由Character Technologies拥有的AI聊天机器人平台向特拉华州联邦法院提交了破产申请。该公司计划通过法院出售其全部或大部分资产。该平台成立于2021年，允许用户与AI角色聊天。
The AI chatbot platform, owned by Character Technologies, filed in a federal court in Delaware. It plans to sell all or most of its assets through the court. Founded in 2021, the platform lets users chat with AI characters.
迪士尼将支付2000万美元，获得Character.AI部分知识产权和某些法律索求权的非独家永久许可。迪士尼还将把其雇佣的前Character.AI员工借回，以协助维持该平台的安全运行一段时间。
Disney will pay $20 million for a non-exclusive, permanent licence to some of Character.AI’s intellectual property and certain legal claims. It will also lend back former Character.AI staff it has hired to help keep the platform running safely for a while.
迪士尼的出价构成了底价，竞争对手买家仍然可以出价更高。Character.AI已请求法院批准这些竞购规则，并预计交易将于11月下旬或12月上旬完成。
The Disney offer acts as a floor, and rival buyers can still bid more. Character.AI has asked the court to approve those bidding rules, and it expects the sale to close in late November or early December.
Character.AI首席执行官科林·亚当斯表示：“在过去的一年里，面对重大的法律、监管和运营阻力，Character.AI采取了有意义的措施来维持和改善其业务。”
“Over the past year, Character.AI has taken meaningful steps to sustain and improve its business in the face of significant legal, regulatory, and operational headwinds,” said Colin Adams, Character.AI’s chief executive.
这些阻力非常沉重。今年1月，该公司就五起涉及青少年心理健康危机和自杀的诉讼达成和解。此后，它又面临来自家属和美国各州的更多法律索求权。
Those headwinds have been heavy. In January, the company settled five lawsuits over teen mental health crises and suicides. Since then, it has faced more legal claims from families and US states.
迪士尼与该公司的联系也是最近建立的。今年9月，迪士尼聘请时任Character.AI负责人的卡兰迪普·阿南德担任其首位集团技术主管。就在一年前，迪士尼曾要求Character.AI停止托管抄袭其角色的聊天机器人。
Disney’s ties to the company are also recent. In September, it hired Karandeep Anand, then Character.AI’s boss, as its first group-wide technology chief. A year earlier, Disney had told Character.AI to stop hosting chatbots that copied its characters.
路透社报道称，Character Technologies在法院文件中列出的估计资产和负债在5000万美元至1亿美元之间。
Character Technologies listed estimated assets and liabilities of between $50 million and $100 million in its court filing, Reuters reported.
与此同时，Character.AI计划在对应用和网站干扰最小的情况下继续运行。该公司已请求法院允许其继续向员工和供应商付款。该公司表示，如果没有买家希望维持该平台继续运行，它将被关闭。
Meanwhile, Character.AI plans to keep its app and website running with little disruption. It has asked the court to allow it to continue paying staff and suppliers. If no buyer wants to keep the platform going, it will be shut down, the company said.