Musk's GTA 6 AI Claim Sparks Take-Two CEO's Retort

Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick has publicly challenged Elon Musk's recent comments about artificial intelligence's potential to rapidly create video games, specifically referencing the upcoming Grand Theft Auto 6 title.

During a panel discussion at the Semafor World Economy 2026 conference, Zelnick addressed Musk's earlier social media comment that "there is definitely a non-zero chance we get 'generate your own GTA 6 in a few minutes' before GTA 6," as reported by Benzinga.

Zelnick's response directly countered Musk's assertion, stating: "If AI were going to get rid of employment, the richest man on Earth, Elon Musk, knows a little something about AI, the last time I checked. He has unlimited financial resources, and he has unlimited human resources."

The Take-Two CEO further questioned Musk's work habits, noting: "The man works 20 hours a day. 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?"

Zelnick's comments follow a March statement in which he called Musk's tweet "laughable," adding: "These tools may help you create assets, but that won't help you create hits."

Rockstar Games, which develops the GTA franchise, has been working on GTA 6 for approximately six years, with the game currently scheduled for release on November 19, 2026, after multiple delays. The title is expected to be one of the biggest video game launches in history.

During his Semafor conference remarks, Zelnick emphasized that AI would not replace creative professionals but rather allow them to focus on higher-quality work. "Anything that you can do that reduces mundane work means that our creators can do more exciting work," he explained.

Zelnick provided an example of how AI has already impacted game development: "When I started in the video game business in 1993, if you wanted to create a lawn, an artist had to create individual blades of grass; otherwise, it looked like concrete. Today, this is pre-AI, if one of my artists wants to create a lawn, they press the lawn button, and that populates a lawn."

The Take-Two CEO acknowledged AI's potential while emphasizing its limitations for creating major entertainment hits. "The notion that somehow new tools would allow an individual to push a button and generate a hit, market a hit, and bring it to many millions of consumers around the world—it's a laughable notion. It's just never been the case with entertainment," he stated.

Zelnick's remarks also included a humorous jab about Musk's reality, suggesting: "If you were going to choose a person who were a simulation, he would be my number one choice."

While Musk has been vocal about AI's potential to transform various industries, his comments about game development have drawn particular scrutiny from industry leaders. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO has previously stated that "AI will figure what video game you'd like best" without requiring user input.

It's worth noting that Musk is a known gamer who has previously expressed disinterest in the Grand Theft Auto franchise, stating: "Tried, but didn't like doing crime. GTA5 required shooting police officers in the opening scene. Just couldn't do it."

The exchange highlights the ongoing tension between AI proponents and creative industry leaders regarding the technology's role in content creation. While AI tools are increasingly used to assist with specific game development tasks, the consensus among major studios remains that AI cannot replace the creative process required to produce major entertainment hits.

As Zelnick noted during his Semafor discussion, the gaming industry's approach to AI focuses on "being the most creative, being the most innovative, and being the most efficient," with AI serving as a tool to enhance rather than replace human creativity.

Take-Two's position aligns with broader industry sentiment that while AI can assist with asset creation and technical tasks, the complex creative process required for major titles like GTA 6 remains firmly in the domain of human developers.

Artūras Malašauskas is an AI Systems Integrator with 20+ years of production-grade web engineering experience. He has designed, shipped, and scaled enterprise Python/PHP systems for logistics, SaaS, and public-sector clients. For the past year, he has focused exclusively on AI integrations: deploying open-source LLMs, building generative media pipelines (image, audio, video), and engineering multi-agent workflows for real production environments. His standard: reproducibility, security, cost-efficient inference—no vaporware. He documents and evaluates emerging AI tooling, separating verified capabilities from marketing noise. Technical editor at: muza-ai.eu, ai-verslas.lt, ai-naujinos.lt Connect on LinkedIn