Take-Two boss slams AI in game development, joking it couldn’t make GTA 6’s marketing plan – but we’re still waiting on Trailer 3

Grand Theft Auto 6 will undoubtedly be the most anticipated gaming launch of 2026, and likely outperform Hollywood blockbusters, too.

But will it use any generative AI? Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick isn’t so sure, praising Rockstar’s creativity as “extraordinary” and acknowledging that while’s not an AI naysayer, he’s not sure it could come up with GTA 6’s marketing plan.

Surprising no one, AI couldn’t come up with GTA 6

Speaking about the usage of AI tools in video game development at CNBC’s Technology Executive Council Summit, Zelnick took a different tact to some in the gaming space.

“Let’s say there were no constraints,” Zelnick said.

“Could we push a button tomorrow and create an equivalent to the ‘Grand Theft Auto’ marketing plan? The answer is no. A, you can’t do that yet, and B, I am of the view that you wouldn’t end up with anything very good. You end up with something pretty derivative.”

Given the marketing plan (at least so far) is two trailers while we wait for Trailer 3, that might be a pretty damning statement on AI’s creativity – but he’s not wrong.

“Whether people in Silicon Valley like to hear this or not, AI is big datasets, with lots of compute, attached to a large language model. So what are datasets by definition? They’re backward-looking.”

“Anything that involves backward-looking data compute, it’s really good for that and that applies to lots of things,” Zelnick added.

“What we do at Take-Two, anything that isn’t attached to that, it’s going to be really, really bad at.”

We’re now just under seven months away from Rockstar’s next big release (barring any delays), so get your time off work booked – it launches on May 26.