WildBrain Adds AI Company to Build Interactive Character Experiences

WildBrain has acquired Personality AI, a young technology company that develops interactive characters using generative artificial intelligence. The Canadian entertainment company plans to use the technology across toys, apps and other platforms through licensing agreements with intellectual property owners. For families, the deal could mean that familiar children's characters increasingly respond to young viewers rather than appearing only in traditional, prerecorded programs.

WildBrain owns a large collection of children's entertainment properties, including “Teletubbies,” Strawberry Shortcake, Inspector Gadget and “In the Night Garden.” The company, formerly known as DHX Media, acquired the rights to “Teletubbies” in 2013. Personality AI has already created children's content for Amazon. In 2025, it developed “Hey Peppa Pig,” a voice experience that allowed children to speak with the character using Amazon Fire Kids Tablets. The companies expect to develop similar interactive offerings tied to licensed characters and brands. Personality AI has said its products are not open-ended AI platforms and undergo testing intended to keep interactions safe.

WildBrain agreed to pay approximately $11 million in cash and issue one million shares for the company. Personality AI is also due to receive $2 million on the first anniversary of the transaction's closing. Additional cash payments of up to $56 million could follow if the business reaches specified performance goals during the deal's first three years, through 2029. Those incentives could bring the transaction's value to nearly $70 million. WildBrain CEO Josh Scherba said the technology can support “more continuous interaction between fans and brands” and help the company provide broader franchise services to business partners.

The acquisition follows another major change in WildBrain's holdings. The company previously owned a 41% interest in the “Peanuts” franchise, but sold that stake in December 2025 to Sony Pictures Entertainment and Sony Music Entertainment Japan for $460 million. As WildBrain turns toward AI-based character experiences, parents may want to examine how individual products work, what forms of interaction they permit and which safeguards accompany content designed for children.

Editorial note: FMN prepared this summary from TheBlaze's August 26, 2026 report and independently structured it for readers.