Take-Two Interactive, the parent company behind Rockstar Games, 2K, and Zynga, has laid off its head of AI Luke Dicken along with his entire team. The cuts come just weeks after CEO Strauss Zelnick told investors that AI cannot produce games on the level of Grand Theft Auto.

"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," Dicken wrote on LinkedIn Thursday. He had spent over a decade at Zynga before becoming Take-Two's head of AI in January 2025.

At least six other team members confirmed their departures, including the director of AI research Robert Zubek and senior director of AI development Jason Leon. Leon wrote that "shifting priorities from upper management have impacted my team and me," pointing to a deliberate strategic decision rather than routine cuts.

The layoffs are striking given Take-Two's mixed messaging on AI. While Zelnick has repeatedly poured cold water on the idea that generative AI could create AAA-quality games, he simultaneously told investors the company has "hundreds of pilots and implementations" of AI across its studios aimed at "driving efficiencies" and "reducing costs."

Take-Two president Karl Slatoff also recently dismissed Google's AI world model Genie, declaring it "not even in the same ballpark" as a real game engine.

The move reflects a broader tension across the gaming industry. Arc Raiders recently began replacing AI-generated NPC voices with human recordings after player backlash, and Nvidia's DLSS 5 drew criticism for AI-generated NPC quality. A recent industry survey found that while one-third of game workers use generative AI, half believe it is bad for the industry.

Take-Two declined to comment.