CEO of Epic Games, Tim Sweeney, has once again slammed Steam’s AI disclosure policy, calling the company’s position on AI disclosure “a political act”.
Responding to a tweet in which someone called Valve’s AI disclosure policy “absurd”, Sweeney agreed, writing, “forcing developers to write a political statement to be used against them by the hate mob they’re helping organize is abhorrent.”
In a separate tweet, he added: “The primary use of both categories of disclosures is to drive cancel campaigns against games and deprive them of revenue and livelihood unless they get onboard with the movement’s political goals. Yes, blocking free choice to adopt productive technology is a political act.
“Say there is a large contingent of gamers that don’t like democrats or, equivalently, republicans. Should Valve force developers to list their political affiliation? Is that pro-consumer?” he added (thanks, IGN).”Do you think that policy would have a positive effect on gaming?”
In a separate tweet, Sweeney wrote: “These AI statements are just as partisan as mandatory political essays or forcing developers to list their voting history to drive cancel campaigns and public struggle sessions.” Elsewhere, he said that “Epic has been extremely open with all developers and the general public about how we’re using AI”.
Sweeney has been outspoken about the use of AI in the games industry, previously arguing that platforms should stop tagging games that make use of AI and that the use of AI in development should have no bearing on how a game is received.
This is not the first time Sweeney has criticized Valve’s policies, either. Back in June, he suggested Valve’s decision to have disclosure labels for projects on Steam that make use of AI was “really irresponsible”.
“I think it’s really irresponsible of Valve,” he said at the time. “They shouldn’t do it, because it makes it much, much, much harder for a game developer to have a chance of success. You have to choose from either not using tools that can make you way more productive, and probably failing due to competition that does.”