Take-Two Reshuffles Its AI Team
Kotaku • • technology
Key Points:
- Take-Two Interactive has laid off Luke Dicken, head of its AI team, along with several other employees working on AI initiatives, despite CEO Strauss Zelnick's statements about embracing generative AI.
- Dicken, who joined Take-Two in early 2025 after a decade at Zynga, highlighted the team's work on advanced AI technology to support game development over the past seven years.
- The AI team largely originated from Zynga's applied AI department following Take-Two's $12.7 billion acquisition of Zynga in 2022, though the partnership has struggled to produce new major hits.
- Take-Two recently distanced itself from generative AI tools like Google's Genie amid investor concerns, with company leaders emphasizing that such tools are not equivalent to game engines.
- Despite layoffs, CEO Zelnick confirmed ongoing efforts to integrate generative AI across the company, aiming to improve efficiency and reduce mundane tasks, thereby enabling creators to focus on higher-level creative work.
