Take-Two Interactive has just had a significant internal shake-up, with the company laying off the head of Artificial Intelligence alongside an undisclosed number of employees.
The update came directly from the former Head of AI, Luke Dicken, who shared the layoffs via a LinkedIn post in which he outlined both his exit and the impact on his wider team. He wrote: “It’s truly disappointing that I have to share with you that my time with T2 – and that of my team – has come to an end.”
While the statement confirms the layoffs, it stops short of explaining why the decision was made, with Dicken instead noting that he would “make a more reflective post” at a later point.
The timing stands out even more when placed alongside recent comments from Take-Two leadership, as CEO Strauss Zelnick previously stated that the company was “actively embracing generative AI,” despite the layoffs that came just two months after his statement.
Take-Two’s AI direction faces new questions
Now, while a lot of the AI team has reportedly been laid off, this doesn’t necessarily mean Take Two Interactive is stepping away from AI entirely, particularly given the comment above from the company’s CEO.
Rockstar GamesWhat it does mean is that there’s clearly a large shakeup happening within the company, especially around how they handle AI in their video games.
Notably, Zelnick has previously explained that “generative AI has zero part in what Rockstar Games is building,” meaning it’s not going to appear in future games like GTA 6.
But he’s also said that they have “hundreds of pilots and implementations across our company” to “drive efficiencies, reduce costs, and create the opportunity to do what digital technology has always allowed, which is, mundane tasks become easier and less relevant, which frees up our creators to do the more interesting tasks of making superb entertainment.”
As such, the layoffs seem to be another unexpected U-turn in the company’s stance on AI and its use in their games.