Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick is one of those in favor of AI use in video game development. Last week, the company saw its shares soar to heights most of their competitors can only dream about and it was partly blamed on the company’s confidence in launching GTA 6 this fall.
Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick
Zelnick joined CNBC’s Squawk Box to discuss the company’s quarterly earnings results, the state of the gaming industry, game release pipelines, the regulatory outlook under the new Trump administration, and the impact of AI on the game industry.
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The show’s host Rebecca Quick asked about how much of GTA 6 is AI and where the use of AI tools stands in the industry. In response, Take-Two Boss said that AI is just a tool like every other tool used in the industry.
“We’ve been using digital tools since the very beginning,” Zelnick said. “So, I would say the interactive entertainment business is an innovator within what people call AI right now and I don’t doubt we would continue to innovate.”
“I think it’s worth noting though that the genius is human. The tools may be digital but the creative genius is human.”
Probing further, Quick highlighted the issue with SAG-AFTRA which went on strike last July to protest the use of AI-generated digital likeness and voice of actors in games. The host wanted to know how Take-Two Interactive plans to protect and pay the humans involved.
In response to that question, Zelnick made an unpopular remark that many actors whose roles are now threatened by AI tools would love to hear. The Take-Two boss stressed that his company believes in protecting the human geniuses behind the works and would continue to pay them even when their performance has been replicated by AI.
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“We believe in protecting and paying human beings,” Zelnick said. “We believe that we ought to pay for their work if it’s replicated by AI after the work is done. So, we believe that is the right thing to do.”
“We don’t think it is the right thing to do, to ask someone to perform once, use the work over and over and not pay for it. We don’t think that’s right.”
Zelnick’s view has been one of the sticking points in how creatives are compensated when their likeness or voice are digitally generated or their works are altered for use in other projects. The way some game makers are approaching the topic is that they can hire creatives once and use AI to manipulate their work for future projects which is why SAG-AFTRA is kicking.
Nevertheless, there’s no debate that the use of AI in game development has come to stay. But, what do you think is the best way forward for both creators and video game makers on this matter? Share your thoughts in the comment box below.
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