Court docket paperwork present that the CEO of Krafton relied on ChatGPT to formulate a plan to disclaim the builders behind the upcoming underwater survival recreation Subnautica 2 and take management of the studio and the sport. This plan was unlawful and a breach of contract, in keeping with a choose in Delaware.
The messy authorized battle that began in 2025 between Krafton and Subnautica developer Unknown Worlds lastly wrapped up earlier immediately, with a choose declaring that the South Korean writer had breached its contract after firing the studio’s co-founders with out trigger and taking management of Subnautica 2 and the corporate. Within the court docket docs from the case, it was revealed that Krafton CEO Changhan Kim used an AI chatbot ChatGPT to arrange the plans to chop Unknown Worlds out of a deal that will have paid hundreds of thousands and to take management over the way forward for Subnautica 2 on Steam.
“As Unknown Worlds ready to launch its hotly anticipated sequel, Subnautica 2, the events’ relationship fractured,” Vice Chancellor Lori W. Will stated in her opinion filed on March 16.
“Inner projections confirmed the brand new title producing important income that will simply set off the earnout. Fearing he had agreed to a “pushover” contract, Krafton’s CEO consulted a man-made intelligence chatbot to contrive a company ‘takeover” technique.’”
In June 2025, when Maria Park, Krafton’s head of company growth, advised Kim that firing the co-founders with out trigger wouldn’t void the earnout and may result in a lawsuit, Kim “turned to ChatGPT for assist,” wrote the choose.
“When the AI chatbot responded that the earnout can be ‘troublesome to cancel,’ Kim complained to Park,” defined the choose. “At ChatGPT’s suggestion, Kim fashioned an inside process pressure, dubbed “Undertaking X. The duty pressure’s mandate was to both negotiate a ‘deal’ on the earnout or execute a ‘Take Over’ of Unknown Worlds. They appeared to purchase time.”
As the connection between Krafton and Unknown Worlds additional fell aside, Kim continued to depend on ChatGPT for steerage.
“In the meantime, Kim sought ChatGPT’s counsel on the right way to proceed if Krafton failed to succeed in a cope with Unknown Worlds on the earnout. The AI chatbot ready a ‘Response Technique to a ‘No-Deal’ State of affairs,’ which Kim shared with [another executive.] The technique included a ‘strain and leverage package deal’ and an ‘implementation roadmap by situation.’ Over the subsequent month, Krafton adopted most of ChatGPT’s suggestions.”
This included a message to followers, mendacity concerning the co-founder’s intentions, taking management of Subautica 2 on Steam, and extra.
This all ended up being an enormous mistake for Krafton and Kim. The choose has now prolonged the time period that the staff has to obtain the $250 million earnout beneath the phrases that Unknown Worlds agreed to when Krafton purchased the corporate. The cofounders are actually eligible to gather the bonus for efficiency of the studio up by way of September 15, 2026. In the meantime, the unique CEO of the studio, Ted Gill, is being given his job again, and Krafton can’t intervene along with his plans for Subnautica 2′s early entry launch.
