Illustration of a game publisher shutting down internal AI development ahead of a major AAA release
Take-Two Interactive has eliminated its internal AI team – including its head of artificial intelligence – just seven months before the November release of Grand Theft Auto VI.
Luke Dicken, who led Take-Two’s applied AI research division, confirmed the cuts on LinkedIn on April 5, 2026. An undisclosed number of team members were also laid off. The division had operated for seven years, drawing heavily on talent from Zynga – the mobile gaming company Take-Two acquired for $12.7 billion in 2022. Dicken joined Take-Two as head of AI in January 2025 after more than a decade at Zynga.
Why It Matters
The shutdown sits uneasily alongside statements Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick made just weeks earlier. Zelnick had said the company was embracing generative AI, with hundreds of pilots and implementations underway across Take-Two, even as he maintained that such tools were not part of GTA VI’s creative development.
Zelnick has simultaneously maintained a skeptical public stance on AI’s creative limits. He has stated repeatedly that AI cannot produce games like GTA 6 because creativity “by definition” cannot emerge from data-driven systems. That philosophical position now appears to have had organizational consequences. The team Dicken led specialized in procedural content generation, machine learning, and AI-driven development tooling – capabilities that Rockstar and other Take-Two studios could theoretically use to accelerate production on large open-world titles.
The timing adds a layer of strategic ambiguity. GTA VI is among the most anticipated software releases in history, and its November 19 launch window leaves little room for major operational disruption. Eliminating an internal AI research function months before that release either signals confidence that the division’s work is complete – or that it was not contributing meaningfully to the project.
What’s Next
Take-Two declined to comment on the specifics of the layoffs. Dicken posted publicly that he is helping displaced team members find new roles, describing the outcome as “truly disappointing” given the team’s tenure and output.
The cuts fit a pattern visible across the tech industry in early 2026. According to layoff tracking data, more than 90,000 tech workers have been let go across 215 companies this year, with AI cited as the leading reason for restructuring in March – accounting for roughly 25% of all cuts. The irony is notable: AI is simultaneously the justification for eliminating jobs and the technology that was supposed to create them.
For the AI business sector, Take-Two’s move raises a question that more companies are likely to face: at what point does an internal AI R&D team need to show measurable returns before leadership redirects that budget toward either external tools or core production priorities?
GTA VI launches November 19, 2026. How much of Take-Two’s AI investment actually ships in that product – and how visible it will be – remains to be seen.
Sources: Engadget · Game Developer · The Gamer · Kotaku
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