RIP your nostalgia — the top owner of kids’ TV shows is giving its characters a high-tech makeover

It’s going to be harder for parents to say no to and even differentiate between AI and real life when it comes to entertaining their children.Toddlers and kindergarteners are unlikely to hop onto an AI chatbot and ask about the weather or for the latest sports scores, but they are now more likely than ever to be driven into interactions with AI-driven content.AI can enable ‘more continuous interaction between fans and brands.’Thanks to a new entertainment-meets-tech deal, the slow walk to AI teaching the West’s children has quickened its pace.WildBrain, the Canadian company known for having possibly the largest library of children’s television programming, has bought a tech company specializing in creating AI personalities.That means that some of the most famous characters kids know and love will now be interacting with children in ways previously unimaginable. WildBrain, formerly DHX Media, bought the rights to “Teletubbies” back in 2013. It also owns characters like Strawberry Shortcake, Inspector Gadget, and the show “In the Night Garden.”Personality AI is just a year-old company and focuses on creating interactive characters using generative AI and has already developed content for Amazon.Under Amazon in 2025, Personality AI created “Hey Peppa Pig,” an interactive voice experience for kids that allowed them to speak with the character on Amazon’s Fire Kids Tablets, the Hollywood Reporter noted.RELATED: Federal agents wanted to search his phone — now they say the trick he used to stop them is a crime John Keeble/Getty Images WildBrain and Personality AI will reportedly create interactive experiences with toys, apps, and different platforms using licensing agreements with different intellectual property owners.In an attempt to address concerns over child interactions with artificial intelligence, Personality AI told the Hollywood Reporter that its AI products are not open-ended platforms and are tested to ensure safe interactions.The deal itself is lucrative, with WildBrain paying roughly $11 million in cash along with one million shares, Variety reported.There are also further incentives that can push the deal to upwards of almost $70 million.RELATED: The $1 trillion social media addiction trial has begun — is the disorder real? BEN STANSALL/AFP/Getty Images Personality AI will receive $2 million on the first anniversary of the deal’s closing and up to $56 million in cash based on meeting performance markers in the first three years of the deal, up to 2029.WildBrain’s CEO Josh Scherba said that Personality AI can enable “more continuous interaction between fans and brands,” which would strengthen the company’s ability to “deliver end-to-end franchise solutions to partners.”WildBrain did have a 41% stake in the “Peanuts” franchise but sold it in December 2025 to Sony Pictures Entertainment and Sony Music Entertainment Japan for $460 million.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!