Take-Two CEO Thinks Elon Musk Is More at Risk of Losing Job to AI Than GTA 6 Artists

According to Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick, AI could actually improve the quality of games, with it being more likely that Elon Musk would lose his job to AI over artists.

AI has long been a contentious topic for both Elon Musk and Strauss Zelnick, with various comments being made regarding Take-Two's use of generative AI in Grand Theft Auto 6 and the mention that AI could make GTA 6 before Take-Two gets the game finished, according to Musk.

Now, Zelnick has hit back once more, assuring fans that AI isn't a huge issue in the gaming industry, explaining that Elon Musk is more likely to lose his job to AI than any artists. He also added that, if anything, AI will actually help games and artists thrive.

Speaking at the Semafor World Economy 2026 Leadership in an Uncertain World panel, the Take-Two Interactive CEO revealed that, in his mind, "if AI were going to take anyone's job, wouldn't it take [Elon Musk's] job, the richest guy on Earth. Wouldn't that be like job number one for AI to take?"

However, he also added the positive impact of AI on games like GTA 6, explaining that "anything you can do that reduces mundane work means our creators can do more exciting work." Essentially, he reveals the notion that AI serves to eliminate any boring work.

When I started in the videogame business, if you wanted to create a lawn, an artist had to create individual blades of grass, otherwise it would look like concrete. Today, pre-AI, if one of my artists wants to create a lawn, they press the lawn button, and AI does that on steroids.

As such, it leaves all the smaller features to AI, allowing the artists to do higher quality work. He explained: "They don't care about lawns anymore; they care about this incredible creature."

So, it seems Zelnick feels extremely confident about the use of AI and the stability of artists in the industry, going so far as to warn Musk about his job stability over that of his designers.