Would you play a video game made entirely with AI? The CEO of Epic Games thinks you will, as he just forbade his employees to write code by hand on the company’s next big game, instead pivoting to AI-driven development. Naturally, this caused plenty of backlash online, and both players and the employees reportedly aren’t happy with the decision.
Artificial intelligence has proliferated in virtually every industry, claiming to boost productivity and output for better results. Some employees aren’t so sure, though, as fears mount over job loss and individual autonomy.
‘Much of the room wants it to be 2016 again, but it's not.’
Not to be deterred, AI proponent and CEO of Epic Games Tim Sweeney is going all in on AI to develop the company’s next big project, an unnamed Star Wars-themed shooter. Disney officially backs the game as part of the company’s $1.5 billion investment in Epic Games in 2024. Epic Games, of course, is known as the maker of one of the biggest titles on the planet, Fortnite, and the developer of the wildly popular game creation platform Unreal Engine.
Sweeney boldly made the announcement on his X page, writing:
We have a huge pivot underway here at Epic, moving developers around to retool for maximum AI acceleration.Under the new guidance, Epic Games employees will reportedly use Claude to write the underlying code and to create the visual assets found in the unreleased game, in place of handwritten code.
The backlash was almost immediate, with players throwing rocks in Sweeney’s comment section. “Your inability to read the room is really really astounding, Tim,” wrote one user.
“Your employees are wondering how they're going to survive in this nightmare and you can't empathize because you're too far removed from where you began,” said another.
Ever adamant to defend his position, Sweeney hit back with his own retort:
Much of the room wants it to be 2016 again, but it's not. Our job, as the provider of tools and technology to much of the industry, is to design for the present that is and the future that will soon be. Personally I'm optimistic about it and see it as empowering for creators.Sweeney’s stance is simple. AI is a new technology that, in his eyes, will enable the next generation of game development. He even said as much several days after his announcement:
The games we've long wanted, which didn't exist because they'd cost several times more to make than they'd earn back, will soon become possible. As will the games developers wanted to build, but couldn't with the resources available. It'll be a new golden age of gaming.That remains to be seen. Gamers notoriously oppose AI, labeling it as “slop” for ripping off other artists’ character designs, art styles, and assets, before reassembling them into original projects that, in the end, aren’t all that original at all. From their perspective, AI is a thief that steals existing IP and regurgitates it into a cheap imitation of real art. They hate it.
To drive this point home, another critic wrote in response to Sweeney’s announcement: “[Billionaires are] used to managing & directing, not making things themselves. Of course they can't see the difference. They don't understand your love for the craft. Keep making personal, beautiful games.”
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INA FASSBENDER/AFP/Getty Images
Sweeney may be optimistic about the future of AI in the gaming industry, but players — the same ones who adamantly oppose this technology today — are the ones he has to win over. Without gamer support, Epic Games doesn’t have a player base or a business.
So far, Sweeney’s combative takedown of AI critics isn’t winning their support, calling the opposition “bulls**t” and throwing insults like “Up yours!” To that, the critic replied, “Your employees are liking my post, they reach out to me all the time. We're just sick of seeing 'adapt or die', we want to choose our own paths just like you did yourself.”
Gamers aren’t the only ones unhappy. Epic Games employees are also reportedly “stunned” by the decision while also confirming that the reports are true.
We reached out to Epic Games for comment on whether other games in its portfolio, like Fortnite, will be given the same AI mandate, or if these new rules are just for the upcoming Star Wars title. We did not receive a response by the deadline.
That said, it’s clear that the company is using AI on other projects. Just last week. Epic Games released a new vibe-coded version of its PC game launcher, boasting faster startup times than Steam. Unfortunately for Epic Games, Valve released a new version of the Steam launcher that beat the startup time of the new Epic Games Launcher just days later.
The new Star Wars title from Epic Games was supposed to be ready by March 2027, though it is now indefinitely delayed, presumably until Epic Games can use AI to fix whatever Sweeney believes was broken. After that, we’ll finally know if AI has any place in the gaming industry, or if this experiment goes up in smoke along with Disney’s $1.5 billion investment.
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Eric Schmidt, the former Google chief executive and Democrat mega-donor, holds a one percent stake in Anthropic that traces back to an early investment of millions in the AI startup. This stake could add up to $10 billion to Schmidt's net worth when the company notable for its AI doomer messages goes public.
The post Democrat Mega-Donor Eric Schmidt’s Anthropic Stake Could Add $10 Billion to His Fortune appeared first on Breitbart.
Iowa Democrat Senate candidate Josh Turek's new ad with two sheriffs claims he has the support of law enforcement, but both sheriffs are on record supporting sanctuary polices, opposing the 287(g) program, and even backing amnesty proposals.
The post Democrat Josh Turek’s Immigration TV Ads Feature Sanctuary Sheriffs appeared first on Breitbart.
Montana AG Knudsen noted progress in his work with the legislature to bring his state in line with the ATF's new suppressor purchase rules.
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Chris D'Elia hates making his material political, and activists hate that.
That's why when the comedian gave his latest take on the war between Israel and Palestine, he knew it was going to ruffle some feathers.
'Guys, how can we report him?'
Choose or loseFor years, the New Jersey native has told fans he doesn't want to use his act to take sides, a policy he reiterated during a recent appearance at the Improv.
"People will be like, 'You have a following, are you going to say something about Gaza?'" the comedian began.
D'Elia's reply was short and to the point: "Where's that?"
When he gets asked, "Well, are you for Palestine or Israel?" D'Elia has a response for that too:
"I don't watch soccer, I don't know! I hope they have a good game."
While the joke killed with the live audience, D'Elia knew what he was getting into when he posted it online:
"I'm sure the comment section below will make us all feel really good and happy," he wrote.
The social media activists did not disappoint.
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Peanut gallery
"It's ok to be spineless and stand for nothing," a Lebanese man said.
"You can be funny and stand for justice at the same time, you do not have to compromise one for the other," another man, with "FreePalestine" in his profile replied.
"Damn chris been bought out by [Israel]," said another.
"Guys, how can we report him?" asked an Indian man.
Many other comments took D'Elia's non-stance as a stance in itself, saying they now understood him to be a supporter of Israel.
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Gun nuts
The joke police always come out in full force whenever the comic even broaches the subject of politics, which he does more often than he may be willing to admit.
In January, D'Elia went out on a limb and joked that he thinks all superheroes are secretly Republicans.
"Who's Republican, dude? Wolverine! Cyclops! Professor X, hello?! You think he's out there — in his mind, he's like, 'But secretly, f**k these woke, white, liberal women.' Killing them left and right, dude, with his brain."
Not that D'Elia spares the GOP. Last year, D'Elia caricatured conservatives as trigger-happy gun nuts while recounting being accosted by a liberal petitioner who wanted him to give a signature to support abortion rights.
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Americans always imagined the future would be filled with flying cars, and now Elon Musk is making that dream a reality.
Alongside designer leader Lars Moravy, Elon unveiled the new Tesla Roadster that can cling to a track upside down using powerful suction fans and pull off stunts with technology borrowed from SpaceX.
“Elon Musk, like a year ago, was talking about this new thing, and he wouldn’t say what it was, but he kind of did. He basically said, ‘Yeah, there’s a flying car coming.’ And so … we got a demonstration,” BlazeTV host Pat Gray says, before playing the clip of the unveiling.
On what resembled a gravity-defying Hot Wheels track, the roadster drove up the track before flipping off and safely landing on the ground.
“We have ... a fan suction system on the bottom of the car that can pull up to two G’s in order to make the car go upside down. And then we borrowed some technology from SpaceX to do the rest,” Moravy explained.
“Yeah, I mean, this car really sucks,” Elon joked.
“This car could suck the chrome off a trailer hitch,” he said. “It could suck a tennis ball through a hose pipe. And it could stick upside down. Now, you might say, like, how often do you want to stick upside down in a car, right?”
“Maybe not that often, but it actually has an actual benefit on the track or just driving, where the downforce of the car means you can corner incredibly well. Like you can corner it like it looks like you’re breaking physics because the car sticks to the ground so hard,” he continued.
“It’s going to crush every track record that has ever existed,” he added.
“What damage is that going to do to the roads?” Jeff Fisher asks.
Gray agrees, adding, “That’s what I was wondering, because that’s an issue.”
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A fire that began with a single luxury vehicle at a Cadillac dealership in Fort Worth, Texas, spread to destroy six electric SUVs and damage two others before firefighters brought it under control nearly 18 hours later.
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