Don't Listen to Your Lawyer, Listen to ChatGPT: Krafton CEO Uses AI to Plan Around $250 Million Contract, Suffers Brutal Defeat in Delaware Court

According to 1M AI News, South Korean game publisher Krafton's CEO Changhan Kim devised a plan to circumvent a $250 million contract payment using ChatGPT, disregarding his own legal team's warnings and proceeding against their advice, ultimately suffering a devastating loss in a Delaware court. On Monday, the judge ruled to reinstate the terminated developer and fully exposed in the judgment the CEO's reliance on an AI chatbot to formulate company strategy.

In 2021, Krafton acquired underwater survival game Subnautica's developer, Unknown Worlds Entertainment, for $500 million and committed to an additional $250 million payment if the sequel Subnautica 2 met sales targets. Krafton's internal sales forecasts indicated that this payment was likely to be triggered. Kim's Head of Corporate Development, Maria Park, explicitly warned on Slack that attempting to avoid the payment carried "litigation and reputational risks" and that even firing the founder would "most likely still require payment." However, Kim turned to ChatGPT for a solution. In response, ChatGPT stated that canceling the payment would be "very difficult," but Kim insisted on an alternative strategy.

ChatGPT suggested forming an internal task force, leading Kim to establish a team codenamed "Project X," and had ChatGPT draft a "No-Agreement Scenario Response Strategy," with key points including:

1. Proactive narrative steering to prevent the event from being framed as "big company bullying indie studio"
2. Locking down Steam/console distribution rights and code pipeline control
3. Preparing contingency recruitment plans for key personnel attrition
4. Simultaneously employing a dual-track strategy of hardball (legal + financial) and soft power (support + incentives) to drive a moderate compromise

Kim subsequently followed ChatGPT's advice to release a statement on the Subnautica website to rally player support, which backfired as players became deeply concerned about the game's future. Kim then fired the game's original creator, triggering a lawsuit. In the judgment, the judge wrote, "Concerned about having signed a 'puppet' contract, Krafton's CEO turned to an AI chatbot to orchestrate a company 'takeover' strategy."