AI Exec Speaker Series: Karan Anand, CEO of Character.ai

New Street's US Internet analyst, Dan Salmon, will be hosting the latest edition of the team's AI Executive Speaker Series.

GUEST SPEAKER: Karan Anand is the CEO of Character.AI, the leading AI entertainment platform with 20M MAUs worldwide. As CEO, Anand is responsible for shaping the company’s long-term strategy, expanding into new modalities like video generation, identifying monetization opportunities, and unlocking new business partnerships to expand the possibilities for users to connect, explore, and create.

Previously, Anand served as the President and Chief Product Officer of Brex. Before that, Anand held several leadership roles at Meta, ultimately serving as the Vice President and Head of Business Products. Before joining Meta, Anand spent 15 years at Microsoft, where he led and expanded the Product Management team and shaped the strategy for Microsoft’s Azure Cloud and Developer platform initiatives.

Key discussion topics will include:

How has Character's relationship with Google evolved since the startup's change in leadership?

What is the addressable market for consumer generative AI entertainment experiences?

How will consumer AI experiences be monetized best? Subscriptions vs advertising?

What is the current landscape for open source models like those used by Character?

How is Character navigating legal and political challenges regarding use of copywritten material and safe use of the product, especially by young people?