Take-Two Interactive has laid off an undisclosed number of employees from its artificial intelligence division, including the team's leader, Luke Dicken. The division, largely established from the company's Zynga subsidiary, was tasked with developing "cutting edge technology" to support game development. Take-Two has declined to comment on the matter.
The reorganization comes as a surprise, given CEO Strauss Zelnick's recent statements that the company is "actively embracing generative AI" and has hundreds of AI-related pilots in progress to reduce costs. This move creates questions about the company's strategy for in-house AI development versus integrating third-party tools.