Character.ai’s $20M asset sale. Applied Intuition’s $30B offers

Deep Dive: Character.ai’s Reported $20M Asset Sale; Applied Intuition’s Reported $30B Valuation Offers

Two AI application companies made news on Oct. 13 with very different numbers attached. Character.ai filed for Chapter 11 and agreed to sell some of its assets to Disney for $20 million. The same day, The Information reported that Applied Intuition, which sells software for cars, trucks and other machines, is fielding offers that value it near $30 billion. To understand either number, you need to know what is being sold and who gets paid.

Character.ai’s $20 million is an agreed sale of some assets inside a court-supervised process. Applied Intuition’s $30 billion refers to reported offers, not a completed financing or a trade.

Character.ai’s sale is still in court

TechCrunch reported that a court document puts the company’s assets and liabilities in a range of $50 million to $100 million. Disney would receive some assets and a non-exclusive, perpetual license to the technology. Former Character.ai employees who joined Disney last month would provide transition services. CEO Colin Adams said the board chose a court-supervised sale as the best way to maximize value. He said the sale is expected to close in late November or early December, and that the platform would be wound down if no bid arrives. TechCrunch did not say whether the Disney agreement sets a floor for other bids.

The company has raised more than $193 million, according to PitchBook data cited by TechCrunch, and reported 20 million monthly active users in October 2024. It has since faced lawsuits over teen safety and a Texas investigation, and it banned minors from the platform.

Some investors may already have been paid

In August 2024, Google agreed to a $2.7 billion deal to license Character.ai’s models, per TechCrunch, and the co-founders returned to Google. Axios reported at the time that Google would buy out venture investors at a valuation of around $2.5 billion, and that no one was rolling over into the Google deal.

Reports from 2024 indicated a proposed buyout of certain venture investors. The extent to which those transactions were completed, and which investors received proceeds, has not been independently verified. If that account holds, early investors were paid before this asset sale, and the $20 million prices what remained. Comparing it with the $193 million raised would tell you little about the returns of investors bought out in 2024. The reporting cited here does not show who was bought out, who was not, or how the Disney proceeds would be divided.

Applied Intuition’s reported offers follow a $15 billion round

Applied Intuition announced a $600 million Series F at a $15 billion valuation in June 2025, co-led by funds and accounts managed by BlackRock and Kleiner Perkins. The round included a tender offer. The company says 18 of the top 20 global automakers use its products, and that it works on U.S. Department of Defense programs. Sacra estimates annual recurring revenue of $830 million in 2025, up from $415 million in 2024.

The Information reported on Oct. 13 that the offers value the company near $30 billion. The same report said a growing number of startups making apps, agents or other AI-powered software are fetching valuations of $20 billion or higher. Cyera, a data security company, raised $600 million at a $12 billion valuation in June, less than six months after a $400 million round at $9 billion, per SecurityWeek. Cyera and Applied Intuition sell to different customers, and reported offers are not completed financings.

Reported private-company financials and secondary-market indications may be unaudited, incomplete, non-standard, or based on limited transaction activity. They should not be relied upon as fair value, executable pricing, or a basis for any investment decision.

What the AI label leaves out

Through its affiliated broker-dealer, Augment Capital LLC, Augment facilitates secondary transactions in eligible private-company securities. Augment trades shares of venture-backed companies. For someone following those shares, a price for one company may say little about another’s, even when both are described as AI application companies. Each has its own customers, revenue, costs, legal exposure and exit terms.

Applied Intuition’s reported offers come with a revenue estimate, customers the company names, and a tender offer in its last round. Character.ai’s sale comes with a court process, a prior license-and-hire deal and active litigation. A basket of AI companies would combine those histories. An average valuation would not tell you which investors had already been paid or what a sale included.

Chapter 11 also changes who is paid. Creditors generally rank ahead of equity holders in a bankruptcy sale, and the order among preferred series depends on each company’s charter. Filings in the case may show how the $20 million is divided.

Reported private-company financials and secondary-market indications may be unaudited, incomplete, non-standard, or based on limited transaction activity. They should not be relied upon as fair value, executable pricing, or a basis for any investment decision.

The comparison has limits

Character.ai sells consumer chat products with ongoing usage costs and legal exposure over minors. Applied Intuition sells software to automakers, defense programs and other industrial customers. They also differ in revenue model and disclosure quality. One bankruptcy and one set of offers do not establish a range of outcomes for AI application companies.

The offers may not lead to a priced round, and a court-supervised sale can change if bids arrive. The Information reported that the offers could lead Applied Intuition to raise about $1 billion, per Sacra’s summary of the report. No round has been announced in the reporting cited here.

For more company information, recent coverage, and available market data, visit Applied Intuition on Augment.

Data Point of the Day

$6 billion to $15 billion, with revenue estimated to have doubled

Sacra records Applied Intuition’s valuation at $6 billion in a 2024 round and $15 billion in June 2025, and estimates its annual recurring revenue at $415 million in 2024 and $830 million in 2025. The offers reported near $30 billion on Oct. 13 are a third reference point, though offers are not a priced round. Sacra’s revenue figures are estimates, and the company has not published them.

Reported private-company financials and secondary-market indications may be unaudited, incomplete, non-standard, or based on limited transaction activity. They should not be relied upon as fair value, executable pricing, or a basis for any investment decision.

Manual: Liquidation Preference

A liquidation preference is a term in some preferred stock that may entitle holders to be paid a set amount, often their original investment, before common stockholders receive proceeds from a sale or wind-down. Terms differ across companies and series, and some preferences are ranked so that later series are paid first. Creditors generally rank ahead of all equity holders in a bankruptcy.