Microsoft’s new gaming CEO vows not to flood the ecosystem with ‘endless AI slop’

In Brief

Microsoft announced a large gaming shakeup connected Friday, with Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer departing the company, on with Xbox President Sarah Bond.

Spencer volition beryllium replaced by erstwhile Instacart and Meta enforcement Asha Sharma. With Sharma’s astir caller relation arsenic the president of Microsoft’s CoreAI product, these moves suggest that Microsoft mightiness beryllium doubling down connected bringing AI into video games.

The institution had already been experimenting with ways to harvester AI and gaming, for illustration developing an AI gaming companion and releasing a buggy, AI-generated level from “Quake II.” 

Indeed, successful an interior memo published by The Verge, Sharma wrote that Microsoft “will invent caller concern models and caller ways to play” and said that “monetization and AI” volition some “evolve and power this future.” At the aforesaid time, she said that the institution “will not pursuit short-term ratio oregon flood our ecosystem with soulless AI slop.”

“Games are and ever volition beryllium art, crafted by humans, and created with the astir innovative exertion provided by us,” Sharma added.

That’s conscionable 1 of 3 “commitments” Sharma made successful her memo. The others impact gathering “great games beloved by players” and prioritizing Xbox.

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