Highlights
- Take-Two CEO says Musk would be first to lose his job if AI replaced workers.
- Zelnick confirms generative AI plays no role in GTA 6's development.
- Take-Two runs hundreds of AI pilots across its business behind the scenes.
Zelnick pointed out that Musk, one of the biggest champions of AI in the world, still works around 20 hours a day. He questioned how that makes sense if AI is truly replacing human workers.
"If AI were going to take anyone's job, wouldn't it take his job? The richest guy on Earth, wouldn't that be job number one for AI to take? Why is he so busy?" he said.
Zelnick also jokingly suggested that if anyone could be a simulation, it would be Musk. He added that he himself works harder than ever despite using AI across every part of his life.
The comments come after a viral moment earlier this year when Musk agreed with AI tech chief Guillermo Rauch on social media that GTA 6 could be built by AI in just minutes.
Rauch had written that there was "a non-zero chance" of someone generating their own version of GTA 6 before Rockstar even releases the real thing. Musk simply replied "Yeah." Zelnick has since called that idea laughable.
Inside GTA 6
Despite using AI tools across its business, Take-Two has been clear that generative AI has no place inside GTA 6 itself.
Zelnick has repeatedly said that Rockstar's team is building the game's world by hand, street by street and building by building.
He does not see AI as a threat to creative jobs. Instead he views it as a useful tool that helps his teams work faster on the boring and repetitive parts of game development.
He gave a simple example. When he first started in the games industry in the 1990s, artists had to draw grass by hand to create a lawn in a game.
Today that process is automated with the press of a button. He said AI takes that kind of time saving even further.
"Everything we create is created in computers using tools. New tools are really exciting for our business," he said.
Zelnick also made a broader point about how technology and jobs work together. He said Take-Two employs more people today than at any point in its history.
He argued that as AI handles the more routine tasks, his teams can spend their time on more creative and exciting work instead.
"They don't care about lawns anymore. They care about, oh my god, this incredible creature," he said.
He also pointed out that AI systems are built on data that already exists. That means they look backwards, not forwards.
Human creators, he said, are the ones who come up with genuinely new ideas and that will always be needed.
Take-Two recently laid off its head of AI, Luke Dicken, along with several others on his team. Despite this, Zelnick said the company is not stepping back from AI.
GTA 6 is scheduled for release on 19 November.
