Take-Two lays off portion of its AI team, including its head of AI

Take-Two Interactive has seemingly let go of an undisclosed number of employees within its AI team.

The details:

• In a now-deleted post to LinkedIn (via Insider Gaming), Take-Two AI head Luke Dicken announced that he would be departing the company less than a year and a half after joining the major publisher. “It’s truly disappointing that I have to share with you that my time with T2—and that of my team—has come to an end,” he wrote.
• It’s unconfirmed how many employees have been affected by the cuts, but Dicken’s post suggests that the layoffs could have a massive impact on the team. “I will take the time in a week or so to make a more reflective post on my time with Zynga and T2, but for right now I would appreciate your help in finding these awesome, talented folks new positions… We’ve been developing cutting-edge technology to support game development now for 7 years,” the post reads. “These folks know how to match innovation and novel problem-solving approaches with strong product design chops to create systems that empower people throughout the development workflow.”
• Take-Two’s views on AI have been mixed, with CEO Strauss Zelnick stating in early 2025 that he was not concerned about the controversial technology “creating hits.” However, his opinion appeared to shift after revealing the company was “actively embracing generative AI” in a report to investors this year, but he would later go on record to state that he does not believe it could ever replace humans in game development.