Take-Two boss Strauss Zelnick has once again weighed in with his thoughts on artificial intelligence, saying at a recent event that people should stop with the AI doomer narrative, while also acknowledging that AI, like other technologies, can be used for evil. He also talked about how developers at Take-Two's studios can use AI to do "mundane" tasks and pushed back against the idea that advancements to AI will lead to mass unemployment in creative fields, citing Elon Musk as evidence.

Speaking at Semafor's World Economy 2026 event, Zelnick said the work his studios--including 2K and Rockstar--do involves computers, and developers are always looking for ways to improve their production pipelines. He imagines AI will be no different in that respect.

"Everything we create is created in computers using tools. So, new tools are really, really exciting for our business," he said.

At the same time, Zelnick said the AI doomer narrative is overplayed, though he said he understands the technology comes with risks that it will be used for ill. Beyond that, Zelnick said previously that AI must be used ethically and responsibly with respect to copyright. In any event, Zelnick sees AI as a train that's coming full steam ahead--it cannot be stopped, he believes.

"I think people spend too much time talking about the, 'Woe is me' risk related to AI," he said. "And it is absolutely true that technology can be used for evil purposes. But the history of technology is, for better or for worse, it's going to come along anyhow--you might as well embrace it. In my opinion, largely technology has been a great thing for humanity and I don't think this will be any different."

Specific to Take-Two, Zelnick said advancements to AI will "undoubtedly be a good thing."

Recently, Take-Two's head of artificial intelligence, Luke Dicken, was laid off, as well as a number of people working on his team. Dicken was the senior director of applied AI for Zynga, and then became the overall head of AI at Take-Two after the GTA company bought Zynga.

During the Semafor interview, Zelnick said Take-Two's ambition overall is to be the most creative, most innovative, and most efficient company making games, and he believes "AI informs all three" of those goals.

He said Take-Two's workforce can use AI systems to do "mundane" work so they have more time to do more creatively exciting work, he said. As an example, he pointed out that when he started in the games business in the '90s, artists had to draw grass by hand to make a lawn in a game. Now, and even prior to developers using AI he said, Take-Two's artists "press the lawn button" and a lawn appears. "So just imagine, AI does that on steroids," Zelnick said.

The interview said this could create a scenario where Take-Two lays off staff, but Zelnick does not see it that way. "That does not mean that all my artists are now out of work. That's the mistake of AI," he said.

"No, they won't be out of work. They'll be doing higher-quality work. They don't care about lawns anymore. They care about, 'Oh my god, this incredible creature,'" he said.

Zelnick also pointed out that AI systems are trained on backward-looking data, since AI tools and systems do not actually create anything new. He said human artists and designers will always be needed because they create forward-looking content. "Our creators have to do that," he said.

"Technology creates productivity, productivity creates GDP, GDP creates more employment," Zelnick said, offering his take on why he believes advancements to AI will lead to more employment overall, not less, even if some specific roles are impacted. He also pointed out that Take-Two employs more people today than it ever has before. Beyond that, he said he recalls a time when people told him that the shift to a digital workplace with computers in the workforce would eliminate paper being used in offices. That did not come to be, and today, Take-Two uses more paper than ever, he said.

The executive also said the theory that AI will take your job is wrong because if that were to happen, then why does someone like the controversial business and technology leader Elon Musk, or even himself, work so much, despite using AI so much? He also jokingly said maybe that's not true and Musk is actually a living simulation of some kind.

"If AI were to going to get rid of employment, the richest man on Earth, Elon Musk, knows a little something about AI last time I checked. He has unlimited financial resources and he has unlimited human resources and he has, apparently, an unlimited number of ideas. He also knows his way around AI. The man works 20 hours a day," Zelnick said.

"If AI were going to take anyone's job, wouldn't it take his job? Like, the richest guy on Earth? Wouldn't that be job No. 1 for AI to take? Why is he so busy? And by the way, why am I working harder than ever despite the fact that I have totally accepted AI into every part of my life? Maybe Elon Musk is indeed a simulation. It's possible. In fairness, if you were going to choose a person who is a simulation, he would be my No. 1 choice."

The heads of big AI companies like Open AI and Anthropic have been saying AI will kill numerous jobs. However, experts have said the executives at those companies said those things in part to help secure new business and pump its own stock by telling everyone how impactful it will be.

Before this, Zelnick talked about how generative AI has "zero part" in GTA 6, despite AI systems being used across his company. He has also said it's "laughable" to think developers will be able to use generative AI to create good games that people actually want to play.

Developers are already using generative AI to create assets that get released in games, as both Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and Crimson Desert more recently did just that. In both cases, the developers said this happened accidentally, and such assets were later removed.