Krafton CEO confirms use of ChatGPT to avoid paying Subnautica 2 co-founders

Just two days ago, we reported that the co-founders of Unknown Worlds claimed that Krafton CEO Kim Chang-han consulted ChatGPT as part of his efforts to avoid paying out their bonuses based on Subnautica 2 success metrics. Krafton vehemently denied this at the time. “This claim is just a distraction [the co-founders’] own efforts to destroy evidence” that they themselves enlisted the help of the popular AI bot.

A whirlwind, to be sure. But regardless of Changham's initial response, Kim has now openly admitted the relevant use of ChatGPT. The $250 million lawsuit has taken another wild turn, and frankly, Kim's statement is as absurd as it is potentially accurate.

“Just Like Everyone Else”

view of Gangnam in Seoul, South Korea from the Krafton office

What is it about? It's not like everyone else isn't using it. This is actually the CEO's message in the middle of his confirmation. As PC Gamer reports, Chang-han has been quite open about the whole matter. “I started discussing this matter with different teams in the company to see what we could do,” he begins.

“So I talked to the legal team, the finance team and the corporate team and the PR team, all these different teams, and I also really looked on ChatGPT to get faster answers to see what kind of rights we have.” -Changham Kim

O. OK. “…Like everyone else, I use ChatGPT to get faster replies or responses,” he continues, pushing the point further. He even used the service to find out what rights Krafton had against co-founders Charlie Cleveland and Max McGuire (and the company's former CEO Ted Gill).

On June 2, Kim sent a message to Krafton's head of development, Maria Park, regarding his findings. “…ChatGPT [is] start[ing] to answer that it is difficult to cancel the earnings,” he told Park. “If so, it is a contract that we can only be pulled by.”

Subnautica - Players swim together with some fish.

But don't worry, Krafton's CEO has no intention of… uh, teaching ChatGPT? When asked why the conversation with Park was deleted, he unsurprisingly offered Krafton's first explanation. “What I learned from OpenAI is that if you use certain important information related to your company, then that type of information can be used by OpenAI for learning purposes.”

“Krafton will lead AI innovation across the gaming industry,” Kim said recently.