While proclaiming last week that generative AI would help create jobs, Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick doesn’t believe it can produce the next Grand Theft Auto. Speaking to CNBC, he noted intellectual property concerns with the technology and how any AI-created IP is “not protectable.”
“We have to protect our intellectual property, but more than that, we have to be mindful of others. If you create intellectual property with AI, it’s not protectable.”
What if the technology had all constraints removed on its usage? “Could we push a button tomorrow and create an equivalent to the ‘Grand Theft Auto’ marketing plan?” said Zelnick. “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.”
This is primarily due to the “backward-looking” nature of AI and its processing of older information, which could be ideal for, say, disease research. However, such an approach is at odds with creating a rich narrative universe that titles like Grand Theft Auto or Red Dead Redemption are known for.
“Anything that involves backward-looking data compute, it’s really good for that, and that applies to lots of things. What we do at Take-Two, anything that isn’t attached to that, it’s going to be really, really bad at,” said Zelnick.
Of course, that hasn’t stopped other companies from investing in AI, especially Electronic Arts, which has allegedly pushed developers for about a year now to integrate the technology. Microsoft has also received pushback for its investment in OpenAI, though it insists there’s no mandate to use it in game development. As Halo: Campaign Evolved director Greg Hermann recently noted, “It really is about that creative spark that comes from people and improving just overall workflows.”
As for the current Grand Theft Auto, namely Grand Theft Auto 6, it’s launching on May 26th, 2026, for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. Previously slated for this year, it faced a delay for more polish. Check out the latest trailer here.
