{"id":373474,"date":"2026-04-03T19:40:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T19:40:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/373474\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T19:40:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T19:40:08","slug":"take-two-laid-off-the-head-its-ai-division-and-an-undisclosed-number-of-staff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/373474\/","title":{"rendered":"Take-Two laid off the head its AI division and an undisclosed number of staff"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">Take-Two, the owner of Grand Theft Auto developer Rockstar Games, has seemingly laid off the head of its AI division, Luke Dicken, and several staff members working under him. &#8220;\u200b\u200bIt\u2019s truly disappointing that I have to share with you that my time with T2 \u2014 and that of my team \u2014 has come to an end,&#8221; Dicken shared in <a class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/posts\/lukedicken_folks-its-truly-disappointing-that-i-have-activity-7445520539647131649-oN5I?utm_source=share&amp;utm_medium=member_desktop&amp;rcm=ACoAABNXWCUBf3rS8sTWkjPFzNIRBIIJWRou888\" data-i13n=\"elm:context_link;elmt:doNotAffiliate;cpos:1;pos:1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:a LinkedIn post;elm:context_link;elmt:doNotAffiliate;cpos:1;pos:1;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkPosition&quot;:&quot;1&quot;,&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yAffiliateService&quot;:&quot;doNotAffiliate&quot;,&quot;yPosition&quot;:&quot;1&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;a LinkedIn post&quot;,&quot;yHasCommerce&quot;:false}\">a LinkedIn post<\/a> spotted by <a class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/www.gamedeveloper.com\/business\/report-take-two-lays-off-the-head-of-ai-and-unknown-number-of-team-members\" data-i13n=\"cpos:2;pos:1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Game Developer;cpos:2;pos:1;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkPosition&quot;:&quot;2&quot;,&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yPosition&quot;:&quot;1&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Game Developer&quot;,&quot;yHasCommerce&quot;:false}\">Game Developer<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">When asked to confirm the layoffs in its AI division, Take-Two declined to comment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">Dicken writes that his team was &#8220;developing cutting edge technology to support game development&#8221; and his post specifically notes that he&#8217;s trying to find roles for staff with experience in things like &#8220;procedural content for games&#8221; and &#8220;machine learning.&#8221; It&#8217;s unclear how many people other than Dicken have been impacted by these layoffs, but the timing does seem a bit unusual for Take-Two.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">Like <a class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/www.engadget.com\/gaming\/ea-partners-with-the-company-behind-stable-diffusion-to-make-games-with-ai-222253069.html\" data-i13n=\"cpos:3;pos:1\" data-ylk=\"slk:some other large game publishers;cpos:3;pos:1;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkPosition&quot;:&quot;3&quot;,&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yPosition&quot;:&quot;1&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;some other large game publishers&quot;,&quot;yHasCommerce&quot;:false}\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">some other large game publishers<\/a>, Take-Two has <a class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/www.gamedeveloper.com\/business\/-genie-is-not-a-game-engine-take-two-president-says-google-s-world-model-cannot-replace-creative-process#:~:text=Take%2DTwo%20itself,efficiency%2C%22%20said%20Zelnick.\" data-i13n=\"cpos:4;pos:1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:&quot;actively embraced&quot;;cpos:4;pos:1;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkPosition&quot;:&quot;4&quot;,&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yPosition&quot;:&quot;1&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;\\&quot;actively embraced\\&quot;&quot;,&quot;yHasCommerce&quot;:false}\">&#8220;actively embraced&#8221;<\/a> generative AI tools to &#8220;drive efficiencies&#8221; and &#8220;reduce costs.&#8221; Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick <a class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/www.gamedeveloper.com\/business\/take-two-ceo-predicts-genai-will-create-jobs-not-kill-them\" data-i13n=\"cpos:5;pos:1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:has even framed;cpos:5;pos:1;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkPosition&quot;:&quot;5&quot;,&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yPosition&quot;:&quot;1&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;has even framed&quot;,&quot;yHasCommerce&quot;:false}\">has even framed<\/a> AI as having a positive effect on employment, noting that generative AI &#8220;will not reduce employment, it will increase employment,&#8221; because &#8220;technology always increases productivity, which in turn increases GDP, which in turn increases employment.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">It&#8217;s too early to characterize these layoffs as some sort of tide turning against AI \u2014 like other big game companies, Take-Two also <a class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/www.engadget.com\/take-two-plans-to-lay-off-5-percent-of-its-employees-by-the-end-of-2024-235903990.html\" data-i13n=\"cpos:6;pos:1\" data-ylk=\"slk:just does a lot;cpos:6;pos:1;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkPosition&quot;:&quot;6&quot;,&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yPosition&quot;:&quot;1&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;just does a lot&quot;,&quot;yHasCommerce&quot;:false}\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">just does a lot<\/a> <a class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/www.engadget.com\/gaming\/civilization-developer-firaxis-is-laying-off-staff-221105604.html\" data-i13n=\"cpos:7;pos:1\" data-ylk=\"slk:of layoffs;cpos:7;pos:1;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkPosition&quot;:&quot;7&quot;,&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yPosition&quot;:&quot;1&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;of layoffs&quot;,&quot;yHasCommerce&quot;:false}\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">of layoffs<\/a> \u2014 but it&#8217;s interesting they&#8217;re happening now, while the company is speeding towards the release of <a class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/www.engadget.com\/gaming\/grand-theft-auto-vi-is-delayed-to-november-19-2026-211848530.html\" data-i13n=\"cpos:8;pos:1\" data-ylk=\"slk:Grand Theft Auto VI;cpos:8;pos:1;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkPosition&quot;:&quot;8&quot;,&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yPosition&quot;:&quot;1&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Grand Theft Auto VI&quot;,&quot;yHasCommerce&quot;:false}\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Grand Theft Auto VI<\/a>. The sequel is <a class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/www.ign.com\/articles\/gta-6-projected-to-make-over-3-billion-in-its-first-year-on-sale\" data-i13n=\"cpos:9;pos:1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:expected to be a big hit;cpos:9;pos:1;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkPosition&quot;:&quot;9&quot;,&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yPosition&quot;:&quot;1&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;expected to be a big hit&quot;,&quot;yHasCommerce&quot;:false}\">expected to be a big hit<\/a>, one that should give Take-Two plenty of financial wiggle-room to experiment with new technology.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Take-Two, the owner of Grand Theft Auto developer Rockstar Games, has seemingly laid off the head of its&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":373475,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[21930,85,46,179221,21928,25711,125],"class_list":{"0":"post-373474","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-technology","8":"tag-grand-theft-auto","9":"tag-il","10":"tag-israel","11":"tag-luke-dicken","12":"tag-rockstar-games","13":"tag-take-two","14":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373474","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=373474"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373474\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/373475"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=373474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=373474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=373474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}