Krafton CEO Changhan Kim asked ChatGPT how to avoid paying $250 million. That's not a joke setup. That's what a Delaware court found actually happened after Krafton acquired Unknown Worlds Entertainment, the studio behind Subnautica, for $500 million in 2021.
The deal included an earnout clause. If Unknown Worlds hit certain targets, the studio's leadership, including co-founders Charlie Cleveland and Max McGuire and CEO Ted Gill, would get up to $250 million more. When internal projections showed those targets would be met as Subnautica 2 ramped up, Kim decided it was a "bad deal" and felt "taken advantage of," according to Vice-Chancellor Lori Will's ruling. His own legal team told him the earnout would still need to be paid even if he fired the studio's leadership. So he turned to ChatGPT instead.
The AI suggested forming an internal task force called "Project X." Its job: either renegotiate the earnout or execute a "Take Over" of the studio. ChatGPT laid out specific steps, including a communications strategy to maintain fan trust, securing publishing rights over Subnautica 2, and preparing legal defense materials. Kim followed most of those recommendations over the next month, according to the ruling.
It didn't work. Krafton ousted Unknown Worlds' leadership, claiming they'd deceived the company about how much time they spent at the studio. The court rejected that claim and ordered their reinstatement. Will returned operational control to Gill and extended the earnout period. Krafton said it disagreed with the ruling and is evaluating its options. The whole mess is a reminder that asking a chatbot for corporate sabotage advice and then following through is, in fact, discoverable in court, a clear example of powerful people just doing dumb shit.