Take-Two Interactive Lays Off Head of AI and Entire Team as Gaming Industry Rethinks Artificial Intelligence Strategy

Take-Two Interactive, the gaming giant behind Grand Theft Auto and NBA 2K, has laid off its head of AI Luke Dicken and his entire team, marking a significant setback for AI adoption in the $200 billion gaming industry.

Dicken, who previously served as senior director of applied AI at Zynga (also owned by Take-Two) for two years, announced the changes on LinkedIn, saying the team's "time has come to an end." The exact number of affected employees was not disclosed.

The layoffs come at a surprising moment. The gaming industry has been one of the most aggressive adopters of generative AI, using it for NPC dialogue, procedural content generation, quality assurance, and art production. Major publishers including Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, and Microsoft have all expanded their AI teams in recent years.

Take-Two's decision to eliminate its dedicated AI team rather than expand it suggests the company may be pursuing a different strategy — potentially integrating AI capabilities into existing development teams rather than maintaining a standalone AI division. The move could also reflect cost-cutting pressures following the broader gaming industry layoffs that have affected thousands of developers since 2023.

The timing is notable given the company's upcoming Grand Theft Auto VI, one of the most anticipated games in history. Whether AI will play a significant role in the game's development or runtime remains unclear.