Executives Turn to AI to Dodge Financial Responsibilities
The future is upon us—where CEOs are employing chatbots to strategize ways to sidestep paying out significant sums of money.
This revelation came to light following a lawsuit from a small American game studio against a major South Korean corporation, which allegedly interfered with the launch of its products.
“We are locking down Steam/Console publishing and access rights,” was the noteworthy message from the case.
Krafton CEO, Kim Chang-han, oversees around $2 billion in revenue from various companies, including the wildly successful PubG Studios. Since 2021, Krafton has also been managing Unknown Worlds, the studio behind the highly popular game Subnautica, which has sold over 5 million copies in just two years.
Thanks to the first game’s success, Krafton agreed on a lucrative arrangement of $250 million in profit contingent on the sales of Subnautica 2. However, Kim appeared hesitant about this arrangement and subsequently initiated “Project X”—a plan to obstruct those payments.
Complications arose after an internal report indicated that Subnautica 2 was expected to hit its sales targets. Court documents reveal that Maria Park, Krafton’s director of corporate development, cautioned Kim against removing Unknown Worlds’ leadership, warning that this could lead to potential lawsuits and harm to his reputation. Yet, in response, Kim reportedly consulted with ChatGPT.
The AI informed him that canceling his compensation would be quite complicated. Instead, it recommended forming a special committee to negotiate a “deal” or possibly acquire the company entirely. Allegedly, Kim embraced these suggestions and shared the AI’s strategy with his team.
More than that, Kim’s plan, inspired by ChatGPT, included what was described as a “pressure and leverage package” against Unknown Worlds. The chatbot advised that Krafton might ruin the classic David vs. Goliath narrative while prepping strategies for scenarios like a takeover or leadership replacement.
Perhaps most alarmingly, ChatGPT cautioned about restricting Unknown Worlds from listing and selling new games on Steam—the leading platform for PC games. The chatbot asserted that Krafton could “lock down access to Steam/Console publishing rights” and suggested creating clauses that would only release the freeze on payouts after specific development achievements.
Following this guidance, Kim restricted publishing, preventing Subnautica 2 from being released. When Unknown Worlds’ CEO, Ted Gill, requested control, Kim seemingly disregarded him, instructing a Krafton representative to inform Gill, “We’re not giving you anything.”
Reports indicated that Krafton’s management did acknowledge consulting ChatGPT for quicker responses, but they also claimed that some portrayals regarding the chatbot’s use were inaccurate.
In the face of Unknown Worlds’ allegations that Krafton erased chat logs, the company argued that such claims merely deflected attention away from supposed evidence destruction.
Ultimately, a Delaware judge concluded that Kim had used AI to devise strategies aimed at avoiding the $250 million payout.
“Crafton’s CEO, fearing he had committed to a ‘push’ deal, turned to an AI chatbot to formulate a strategy for a takeover,” Deputy Prime Minister Lori Will stated in the ruling. The court noted that Crafton was expected to make autonomous decisions rather than outsource them to an AI.
Looking ahead, it appears that the revenue target for Unknown Worlds may be achieved by mid-September, with a possible extension into March 2027. The game is slated for an early release in May 2026.
