GTA 6 and AI: Take-Two goes after fake AI-generated GTA content
From the Project Genie stock slide to a cease-and-desist against an account posting fake AI-made GTA 6 leaks: how Take-Two is handling generative AI.
On April 24, 2026, GTA 6 fan account GTASixJoker posted a public apology on X after receiving a cease-and-desist from Take-Two. For months, it had been sharing AI-generated images designed to look like leaked screenshots. It's the latest chapter in an increasingly tense relationship between the publisher and generative AI, one that started with a stock market scare at the beginning of the year.
January: Project Genie rattles the stock
On January 29, 2026, Google DeepMind unveiled Project Genie, an experimental prototype that generates interactive 3D worlds from text, an image or a sketch. It was only available to adult subscribers of Google's top plan in the US, and Google itself stressed it isn't a game engine. The market panicked anyway. The next day, Take-Two's shares fell close to 10%, on a day when Unity dropped 21% and Roblox 12%.
February and March: "zero" generative AI in GTA 6
The official response came from the top. In February, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick told investors that "generative AI has zero part in what Rockstar Games is building" and that its worlds are handcrafted.
In March, speaking to The Game Business, he went further, saying he was "stunned" by the market's reaction because creation tools are good for the industry, and dismissing the idea that something like Genie lets anyone make a GTA:
"The notion that somehow new tools would allow an individual to push a button and generate 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."
April: a cease-and-desist for a fan account
The GTASixJoker case shows where Take-Two draws the line. In its apology, the account admitted its images used copyrighted Rockstar material and "risked confusing fans with real leaks." That's the test: an AI image of some random city is fine; one built from GTA 6's logos, characters and visual style and passed off as a leak is not.
Why it matters so much to Take-Two
There are two reasons. The first is confusion: months from launch, AI-made fake leaks are hard to tell from real ones and fuel expectations the game never promised. The second is image: Take-Two has turned "handcrafted" into a selling point for GTA 6, and it doesn't want the game associated with generated content.
Our take
There's some irony here. Take-Two is simultaneously going after AI-made content that looks like GTA and human-made content that rebuilds GTA, such as fan ports and remakes. But the line it's drawing in this case is a reasonable one: the target isn't the tool, it's using Rockstar's property to mislead. Later, its September mod guidelines would put that stance in writing, including a ban on using real people's voices or likenesses without permission.
