Take-Two CEO Calls AI a 'Parlor Trick' That Can't Create Hit Games Like Grand Theft Auto

Can AI create next 'Grand Theft Auto'? Take-Two Interactive CEO says no

Strauss Zelnick, the CEO of video game publisher Take-Two Interactive, said he is not a "naysayer" when it comes to the promise of artificial intelligence. But at the same time, Zelnick, who leads the company that publishes the "Grand Theft Auto," "NBA 2K," "Red Dead" and "Borderlands" video game series, said the signs that the technology is having an impact on game development and production are "still limited." That's for two reasons, Zelnick told a room of technology executives at CNBC's Technology Executive Council Summit in New York on Tuesday. The first reason -- which is increasingly placing AI companies at odds with Hollywood, musicians and other creative industries -- is intellectual property. "We have to protect our intellectual property, but more than that, we have to be mindful of others," Strauss told CNBC's Steve Kovach in an interview at the CNBC event. "If you create intellectual property with AI, it's not protectable." The data-rights clash between content owners and the AI industry has resulted in a string of licensing deals, lawsuits and ongoing criticism as AI companies continue to seek out more data sets to train their large language models. However, the debate took another twist upon the release of OpenAI's video creation app Sora last month, which allows users to generate near-realistic, short-form AI videos through prompts. That has opened the door for a new set of concerns around deepfakes and the usage of the voice and likenesses of not only famous actors, musicians and animated characters, but also any person. Strauss said that when it comes to AI usage at game publishers like Take-Two, it's not only important that the created content stands up to copyright laws but also protects people's rights. "There are constraints," he said. But perhaps the bigger hurdle when it comes to utilizing more AI in game production is one at the center of what he believes is why the company continues to be successful. "Let's say there were no constraints [on AI]. Could we push a button tomorrow and create an equivalent to the 'Grand Theft Auto' marketing plan?" he said. "The answer is no. A, you can't do that yet, and B, I am of the view that you wouldn't end up with anything very good. You end up with something pretty derivative." Strauss said that is due to AI inherently being "backward looking" because its computation is tied to big data sets of old information. Often, he said, what AI produces can feel new because it's using predictive models, "and there are many, many, many things in life that are predictable based on data," and there are plenty of things that data can solve for. While that may help with solving something as complex as a cure for a disease or as simple as biology homework, Strauss said that when it comes to creating the sorts of multi-layered universes that Take-Two's video games have become known for, it's another story. "Anything that involves backward-looking data compute, it's really good for that and that applies to lots of things," he said. "What we do at Take-Two, anything that isn't attached to that, it's going to be really, really bad at." Maintaining that creative edge has been critical for Take-Two, one of the last standing public video game developers after Microsoft acquired Activision Blizzard for $69 billion in 2023 and Electronic Arts announced last month that it will be acquired by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, Silver Lake and Affinity Partners in an all-cash deal worth $55 billion. "We aim to create franchises that are permanent," Strauss said, noting that Take-Two has 11 franchises that have sold at least five million games upon release, in addition to more than 20 popular mobile games. The company's biggest franchise, "Grand Theft Auto," is set to launch its next iteration in May 2026 and will likely set new sales records. Strauss said that the previous game in the series, "Grand Theft Auto V," had $1 billion in sales in the first three days of its launch in 2013. "The team's creativity is extraordinary, and what [Take-Two subsidiary] Rockstar Games tries to do, and so far has done over and over again, is create something that approaches perfection," he said. "There is no creativity that can exist by definition in any AI model, because it is data-driven," Strauss added.

AI is 'a combination of metadata with a parlor trick,' Take-Two boss says: 'A great thing' for business, but it's not creative and never will be

Strauss Zelnick shared his thoughts on the impact of AI on game development at today's Paley International Council Summit. Take-Two chairman and CEO Strauss Zelnick has never been shy about sharing his thoughts on artificial intelligence, and he's been pretty consistent about it over the years, too. While some game industry CEOs see the rise of AI as an imminent revolution in revenue-generation (and yeah, sure, creativity and whatnot), Zelnick has always been a bit cooler on it: "Genius is the domain of human beings," he said in May 2023, "and I believe will stay that way." And so he was today, speaking at the Paley International Council Summit in Menlo Park, California, where he said that the use of AI will "probably be able to create a bunch of efficiency" for game studios, but won't produce any hit games because it can't actually be creative. "What AI is, is the combination of big datasets with a bunch of compute within natural LLM -- a large language model," Zelnick told his audience. Leaning into an opinion he shared in an interview earlier this year, he continued, "And by definition, a data set is what? Backward looking. By definition, creativity is what? Forward looking. And to the extent that AI appears to be forward looking, it is what? A predictive model." This, he continued, is where the wheels come off. Predictive models do their jobs very well when they have enough clear data, but are far less capable when they don't have as much to work with. AI seems so extraordinary now because it's "a combination of metadata with a parlor trick," a description I think really cuts to the heart of the thing, but it will become mundane in time -- "we're all going to get used to it," as Zelnick put it -- much like we did with Google. Zelnick also predicted, as he has previously, that the advent of AI will not reduce employment, but will in fact increase it: "In 1865, 65% of the US workforce was involved in agriculture. Today we make food for America and food for the rest of the world. And 2% of the workforce is involved with agriculture. And I defy you to find anyone who recently said to you, 'It's so horrible, I can't get a job as a farmer.'" (He used that exact same analogy in those prior comments about the impact of AI on employment, too. The man really is consistent.) Despite his apparent doubts, Zelnick is not an AI naysayer -- he just seems to more readily perceive its limitations than other game industry executives, or at least be more willing to call them out. "AI is a great thing," Zelnick said. "It's a great thing for every industry. Will it recreate or create genius? No. Will it create hits? No. It's a bunch of data with a bunch of compute with a language model attached."

Take-Two CEO expresses down-to-earth take on AI: 'It's a great thing' but also a 'parlor trick'

TL;DR: Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick views AI as a practical tool, not a creative miracle, emphasizing it combines big data and predictive models but cannot independently create genius or hit games. He highlights AI's role in accelerating game development while cautioning against overestimating its creative capabilities. Strauss Zelnick, the CEO of Grand Theft Auto parent company Take-Two Interactive, has a level-headed take on AI and cautions the industry to see it for what it really is--a tool, not a creative magic wand. AI is here, and it's not going away. Artificial intelligence is finding its way in pretty much all forms of technology, especially media content production. Gaming companies are using AI in the hope of accelerating games development, which on the surface seems like wizardry, but one CEO dispels all the buzzword trickery and exposes the technology in a more practical lens. That CEO is Strauss Zelnick, a businessman who's had more reserved, conservative, and reasonable public takes on key video games industry trends--especially artificial intelligence. At the recent Paley International Media Summit held in Silicon Valley, Zelnick discussed AI, what it is, and how it will be used. AI is a "great thing," but it's a tool, similar not necessarily to a paintbrush to the artist--AI is more akin to the easel, the chair the artist sits in, etc. Zelnick starts out by defining AI and calling it a kind of predictive model that can align with creative thinking and processes: "It's a combination of metadata with a parlor trick," the Take-Two CEO said. "What AI is, is the combination of big datasets with a bunch of compute within natural LLM-a large language model. And by definition, a data set is what? Backward-looking. By definition, creativity is what? Forward-looking. And to the extent that AI appears to be forward-looking, it is what? A predictive model." AI, even generative AI like Microsoft's MUSE, won't be able to make great games on its own, though. "AI is a great thing. It's a great thing for every industry. Will it recreate or create genius? No. Will it create hits? No. It's a bunch of data with a bunch of compute with a language model attached." "Those are convenient ways to explain to human beings what looks like magic. The bottom line is that these are digital tools and we've used digital tools forever."

Take-Two CEO says AI is "going to be really, really bad" at making video games and probably couldn't even come up with the GTA 6 marketing plan

For better or worse, AI is now fully entrenched in game development - theoretically as a tool to aid in development, though there's a fair bit of controversy within studios about how helpful the technology actually is. Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick is willing to acknowledge that even if it could create whole games on its own, they probably wouldn't be very good. Heck, it probably couldn't even come up with a decent GTA 6 marketing plan. "Let's say there were no constraints [on AI]," Zelnick tells CNBC. "Could we push a button tomorrow and create an equivalent to the 'Grand Theft Auto' marketing plan? The answer is no. A, you can't do that yet, and B, I am of the view that you wouldn't end up with anything very good. You end up with something pretty derivative." In Zelnick's view, AI tech is inherently limited, since it can only look at existing data and remix that information into slightly different forms. Its value in helping something like a video game publisher, then, can only go so far. "Anything that involves backward-looking data compute, it's really good for that and that applies to lots of things," Zelnick says. "What we do at Take-Two, anything that isn't attached to that, it's going to be really, really bad at." He's also quick to note that generative AI as most of us know it - that is, content generation pulling from existing work without any regard to copyright - presents some serious difficulties for game development. "We have to protect our intellectual property, but more than that, we have to be mindful of others," Zelnick says. "If you create intellectual property with AI, it's not protectable." While Zelnick created some controversy when he called AI "the future of technology" and predicted that it "will increase employment," he's broadly had a more nuanced view on the tech than most video game CEOs. He's previously said that AI users who think they "can push a button and say, 'Create the next GTA 6'" are completely wrong and has suggested that developers deserve to be paid "for their work if it's replicated by AI after."

AI Wouldn't Be Able To Create A Very Good Grand Theft Auto Game Due To Its Lack of Creativity, Take-Two CEO Says

While AI can streamline the video game development process, it would never be able to create a very good Grand Theft Auto game, according to Take-Two's CEO Strauss Zelnick, as current models lack something very important. Speaking about AI usage in video game development at CNBC's Technology Executive Council Summit in New York on October 28, the CEO of Rockstar Games' parent company made it clear that the current models would be unable to create a very good Grand Theft Auto game. For starters, using AI to create intellectual property creates issues not only with protecting one's own but also with respecting other's properties. Even if there were no constraints on AI, it wouldn't be possible to create a very good Grand Theft Auto game, according to Strauss Zelnick. "Could we push a button tomorrow and create an equivalent to the 'Grand Theft Auto' marketing plan? The answer is no. A, you can't do that yet, and B, I am of the view that you wouldn't end up with anything very good. You end up with something pretty derivative," he said. What would prevent AI from making a very good Grand Theft Auto game is the lack of creativity, which is inherent to all AI models. These predictive models based on data sets of old information can work relatively well in certain fields, but not in the creation of the "multi-layered universes that Take-Two's video games have become known for," Strauss Zelnick said. "The team's creativity is extraordinary, and what Rockstar Games tries to do, and so far has done over and over again, is create something that approaches perfection. There is no creativity that can exist by definition in any AI model, because it is data-driven," Zelnick concluded. Although the Take-Two CEO makes an extremely valid point, the video game industry seems divided on the usage of AI. EA is pushing heavily for its employees to use AI for basically every task, ranging from coding to QA, while others, such as Super Smash Bros. series creator Masahiro Sakurai and Metal Gear and Death Stranding creator Hideo Kojima, see it as a tool to make large game development sustainable in the future and enhance creativity.

Take-Two CEO calls generative AI "the future of technology" that "will increase employment," months after saying GTA 6's "creative genius is human"

Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick seems slightly more gung ho about generative AI, recently calling it the "future of technology" during a talk at The Paley Center for Media. The corporate owner of Rockstar Games (Red Dead, GTA) and 2K Games (Borderlands 4, Bioshock, Mafia) haven't been as loudly pro-AI as some other big name publishers, but Zelnick recently changed his tune, predicting that the tech will actually create jobs, not kill them. (Thanks, Game Developer.) "It will not reduce employment, it will increase employment," he said. "Technology always increases productivity, which in turn increases GDP, which in turn increases employment. And you know, in 1865, 65% of the US workforce was involved in agriculture." But Zelnick's theory runs counter to reports that predict AI will cause more job losses with practically no boost to GDP, as well as job loss predictions from OpenAI's Sam Altman. InXile Entertainment boss and Fallout veteran Brian Fargo even shared that he was "worried about job loss" thanks to the tech. Zelnick then elaborated on his example, explaining that the USA produces tons of food for with only 2% of its population involved in agriculture. "And I defy you to find anyone who recently said to you 'It's so horrible I can't get a job as a farmer,' and employment is way up," he added. "AI is a great thing. It's a great thing for every industry. Will it create a genius? No. Will it create hits? No. It's a bunch of data with a bunch of computers with a language model attached." Still, Zelnick months ago was very proud of the fact that GTA 6's "creative genius is human" and was adamant that workers deserve to be paid if their work is then reused by AI "after their work is done." And even now, he's not claiming that generative AI can hold a candle to what creatives can do: "And by definition, a data set is backward-looking, while creativity is forward-looking. To the extent that AI appears to be forward-looking, it is what a predictive model is."

There's No Point Using AI for Any Creative Endeavor, Says Game Developer

As 2025 approaches its final months, AI becomes more and more a subject of discussion across all industries, including game development. The games industry has long utilized artificial intelligence to populate its virtual worlds. Still, with the veritable explosion of generative AI in the last few years and the concurrent ballooning of game budgets and development timelines, some developers have been exploring whether it could be used to reduce costs and production time. In our most recent interview with independent developer Epictellers Entertainment about their upcoming cRPG Starfinder: Afterlight, we asked the Spanish team their opinion on the thorny matter. CEO and co-founder Richard Pillosu was crystal-clear: he'd like AI to help him with daily tasks around the house, but he doesn't really want it to touch any creative areas. The problem with AI is that AI should be doing the things that we don't want to do, and it seems that it wants to do the things that we want to do. We want to do games. We want to invent characters. We want to invent worlds. We want to draw them. We want to invent them for that. Why? We don't want AI for that. I mean, this is the fun part of video game development. I would like an AI that does my dishes and cleans my apartment. Then I can stay creative. But we don't have the AI for that. It seems that the AI that we are being pushed into is the AI that removes this kind of creativity. So, no, no. We could be doing other stuff, but we jumped into making games because we truly love inventing those things and seeing how we connect those things. There is no point in using AI for any creative endeavor. So, no, we don't like it. Famous video game designer and director Hideo Kojima recently shared his own take on AI, calling it 'a friend' that will help him stay ahead. However, he also noted that he wants AI to do the menial tasks while he focuses on the creative part, so in that regard, he is aligned with Pillosu. Earlier this month, we interviewed actor Feodor Chin, too, who provided a similar take from his point of view: I think, like with any technology, there is a place for AI as a tool, but I don't think it should ever be a replacement for human beings. Will the games industry be able to use the latest advancements in artificial intelligence to allow humans to give their best creatively without replacing jobs? That remains to be seen, but we'll continue to gauge the opinions within the industry and the various implementations of the development studios.

Former God of War Dev On the Use of AI in Games Development: "If We Don't Embrace It, We're Selling Ourselves Short" - IGN

Meghan Morgan Juinio says AI is a tool that's "going to evolve whether you're onboard with it or not." There's no question that one of the biggest talking points during last week's Gamescom Asia x Thailand Game Show came out of Dead Space creator Glen Schofield's opening keynote address, regarding his plans to "fix" the industry in part via the use of generative AI in games development. In addition to speaking with Schofield, IGN managed to get some time with another industry veteran, Meghan Morgan Juinio, to ask for her thoughts on the controversial practice that has previously been met with anger from Call of Duty fans, but also major support from games industry executives like EA CEO Andrew Wilson. "I think if we don't embrace it, I think we're selling ourselves short," said Juinio, who recently vacated her role as director of product development at Santa Monica Studio after 10 years and two hugely successful God of War games. "AI is a tool, and something that will augment us. At least for right now, that's how I see it. It's going to evolve whether you're onboard with it or not, so I want to be at the forefront of helping to guide how that goes and how we use it." Juinio went on to compare the use of generative AI to the procedurally-generated content that's been a part of games development for decades now, pointing to SpeedTree - a tool for generating trees in real time - which was used as early as 2002 for the foliage in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. She also recalled a time when animators were pushing back against motion capture and the use of procedural generation to blend animation frames rather than key them by hand. Both procedurally generated assets and animations have long become standard practices in games development, and Juinio seems just as confident that generative AI will also find its place. "Personally, I'm super positive," said Juinio. "Like [Glen Schofield said in his keynote address], this is the next big technological advancement that's coming. In fact it's here already, and I think as leaders in the video game industry it is on us to figure out not just can we do it with AI, but should we? And it's a case-by-case type of decision making process and what's true for game X might not be true next year for game Y." When asked if she thought the increasing adoption of generative AI might help mitigate the swelling costs of AAA-games development, Juinio was clear that the use of AI in games development is unlikely to be the be-all end-all solution to the post-pandemic pattern of regular studio closures and the bursting of the blockbuster game bubble. "I wouldn't necessarily put it into an either/or kind of scenario in that way, because to me the size and scale and beauty of the game isn't the main thing," said Juinio. "At its heart, the game [needs] to be fun. [Ideally] at its heart the story is fantastic, it's human, players connect to it, and it's fun to play." "And yes it looks beautiful, and yes the music is immersive. But the music could be really immersive and the gameplay could be not good, or the story [might] not be engaging, and I don't think it would resonate with players as much. And so at least for right now, I don't see AI replacing the fun gameplay that is at the heart of a game like God of War." Although Juinio seems adament that generative AI in games development is here to stay, she also remains confident that it will never be able to rival the heart and soul that can only come from a human touch, and that the adoptance of AI will only be a positive if there's an equal amount of investment made into developers to help them get the best results out of it. "At the end of the day you still need game developers to come up with the ideas," said Juinio. "The story of God of War is very much a human story that is based on human experiences." "At least as of today, I don't see that going away." Earlier this month the makers of Battlefield 6 stated that there was currently no way to implement the use of generative AI into the daily work of its development team, despite regarding the burgeoning technology as "very seducing". Indeed the debate over generative AI is bigger than in-game assets. At the start of October, Nintendo issued a statement in response to claims around generative AI, with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman calling Sora 2 copyrighted character videos "interactive fan fiction."