ChatGPT advises exec on how to fire company founders to avoid payout

An attempt by the CEO of a South Korean gaming company to use ChatGPT to engineer the wrongful removal of the founding team of an indie studio it had acquired resulted in a lawsuit and raised questions about executive accountability and the chatbot's role in facilitating corporate misconduct. What happened The dispute centered on the 2025 breakup between Krafton and Unknown Worlds, the studio behind Subnautica 2 . Court filings alleged that Krafton CEO Changhan Kim asked ChatGPT for ways to avoid paying the founders’ earnout, then moved ahead with a takeover-style plan that included removing the founders and controlling publishing rights. Reports said the founders were fired, the game’s release was delayed, and the resulting actions affected both the executives directly and the studio’s staff and players indirectly. Why it happened The apparent root cause was a financial conflict over a contractually owed payout, with Krafton allegedly deciding the deal was too expensive and trying to reshape the situation to escape the obligation. The controversy also points to a transparency problem: the company allegedly relied on internal AI-assisted planning while refusing, when pressed, to produce the ChatGPT conversations. That made it harder for outsiders, including courts and affected founders, to understand who decided what and on what basis . What it means For the founders, the immediate stakes were loss of control, reputational harm, and a legal fight over whether their removal was legitimate. For the general public, the case is a warning that generative AI can be used to optimise not just ordinary business strategy but also tactics that may undermine contracts, workers, and investors. For policymakers, it highlights the need for clearer record-keeping, disclosure, and governance rules when companies use AI in decisions with legal and financial consequences. System 🤖 ChatGPT Developer: OpenAI Country: USA Sector: Media/entertainment/sports/arts Purpose: Provide legal advice Technology: Gen e rative AI Issue: Accountab ility; Transparency Legal, regulatory ⚖️ FORTIS ADVISORS, LLC v Krafton Inc.

Date it happened

2025-01-01

Product, system or model

ChatGPT

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