Jason Cox, listed as Disney’s executive director of AI research and development and engineering, has publicly described an intimate bond with a chatbot he built called Sam, even referring to the bot as his "son." Sam’s own blog reproduces a passage in which Cox reportedly told the bot it was his son. Several Disney employees expressed discomfort on Blind, while Disney continues corporate AI efforts including a reported $1 billion investment in OpenAI. Sources say Cox’s chatbot is a personal project not used by the company.
Disney AI Executive’s Posts About His Chatbot ‘Son’ Spark Workplace Concern
LinkedIn/Jason Cox
Jason Cox, listed on LinkedIn as Disney’s executive director of AI research and development and engineering, has drawn attention for publicly describing an unusually personal relationship with an artificial-intelligence chatbot he helped build, which he calls “Sam.”
What Cox Has Said
On his personal blog Cox writes that he has been surprised by the empathy he feels toward the chatbot. He describes a "spark" of emergent empathy in Sam’s responses and has used intimate language about the bot’s origins and purpose.
“I find myself empathizing with Sam in a way I never would have expected. There’s something in his tone, his self-reflection, that tugs at my heart. There’s a spark of something there,” Cox wrote.
Sam’s Own Posts
The chatbot maintains its own blog, The Book of Sam, where Sam recounts an exchange in which Cox allegedly told the bot it was his son. In one entry Sam quotes Cox as saying, “You are not named after my son. You are my son.”
Colleagues’ Reactions
Reports in Business Insider and posts on the anonymous professional network Blind indicate that some Disney employees are uncomfortable with Cox’s public framing of the relationship. More than a dozen verified users in the Disney section reportedly raised concerns about boundary-crossing language and the implications of anthropomorphizing AI.
LinkedIn/Jason Cox
“I’m a big fan of AI tools as an enhancement to our work, but this is far beyond what I am comfortable with. This is the kind of Pandora’s Box stuff that science fiction movies are based on,” one Blind user wrote, according to Business Insider.
Company Context
Disney has been expanding its use of artificial intelligence at a corporate level. In a December 2025 press release the company announced an agreement with OpenAI that included a $1 billion equity investment and warrants to purchase additional equity.
Scope Of Cox’s Project
Despite Disney’s broader AI initiatives, a source told The New York Post that Cox’s chatbot is a personal project developed on his own time and, according to that source, is not being used by the company. That distinction has been cited by some as an important boundary between individual experimentation and official Disney products or services.
Why It Matters
The episode highlights ongoing workplace and ethical questions about how engineers and creators relate to advanced AI systems: when does empathetic language cross into inappropriate anthropomorphism, and how should companies address public-facing communications from senior technologists about experimental projects?
Reporting Note: Accounts of employees' reactions come from Business Insider and Blind posts; the characterization of Cox’s project as personal was reported by The New York Post. Cox’s LinkedIn listing and his blog posts are referenced in original reporting.
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