Borderlands Studio Head Responds After Fans Rip Him For "AI Slop" Selfie

Randy Pitchford, the co-founder and main boss at Borderlands developer Gearbox, has commented on a recent AI-created photo that he posted on social media and clarified his studio's stance on using AI for game development.

Pitchford said he recently asked ChatGPT to generate a selfie of an AI that indicates "how they feel based on how I interact with it," and it came back with the image you can see below. Pitchford was mocked for this so-called "AI slop," with one person saying a real photo of himself working in his office and taken by a Gearbox employee might have gone over better. Pitchford replied by saying that this person missed the point. Pitchford wanted the AI to create an image of what it perceived to be itself, not Pitchford, as part of the developer's effort to shine a light on the "absurdity of the idea of AI having an identity."

In another post, Pitchford clarified his position further, saying he uses ChatGPT primarily as a search engine. He said he recently tried out the image-generation part of ChatGPT, with his specific prompt for the image being: "Make a picture of yourself as if you worked at my company, Gearbox Software."

"I wanted to see what bullsh** it would generate as an idea of a self identity because the idea of an AI even having an identity is nonsense," he said. "The result was somehow more embarrassingly hilarious than I expected and I wanted to share that."

He went on to say ChatGPT has "no information" about himself based on his work because he does not use AI for work. Pitchford said he tinkers with AI on his personal phone and personal computer, which are not connected to his work devices. He also said Gearbox's policy for AI is that "no AI in any work that could ever be seen by any customer."

People also pointed out that Pitchford posted this AI selfie not long after some in the Borderlands community theorized that recently released patch notes looked as if they were written with AI. Pitchford reacted to this, saying, "The timing or content of this has exactly zero to do with whatever feelings you've spun yourself up about with patch notes."

Gearbox is owned by Take-Two, which is implementing AI systems across its business to help drive efficiencies in non-creative areas. Take-Two boss Strauss Zelnick also pushed back against the narrative that advancements to AI will lead to job reductions, and the data shows that Take-Two has increased its headcount in recent years. He has also talked about how generative AI has "zero part" in GTA 6, despite AI systems being used across his company. He said it's "laughable" to think developers will be able to use generative AI to create good games that people actually want to play.

Borderlands 4, the newest entry in the series, launched in 2025 and had disappointing sales out of the gate, despite setting US sales records for the franchise. Zelnick said Take-Two expects Borderlands 4 to do "great" overall, however, as sales continue to grow over time.

More news about Borderlands and everything related to Take-Two is expected to come soon, as the company will host its next earnings briefing on May 21.