The CEO of engine firm Unity, John Riccitiello, has said that the company still has plans for AI in its offering.

Speaking to Axios, the chief exec said that the firm was still exploring artificial intelligence, claiming that this is a means of helping game developers rather than replacing them. This follows Unity launching several AI initiatives, such as the Muse bot to produce artwork and code, and Sentis, which can be implemented in-game.

“Some companies will try to make the same game with less to save money,” Riccitiello said.

“And other companies are going to try to make a better game with the same or more, now that they’ve got so much more power.

“My guess is that camp two wins."

The CEO also addressed concerns over how AI tools are being trained. In recent years there has been debate over the ethics of building artificial intelligence tools, namely whether their datasets are pulling from copyrighted materials. The result would be tech that spits out content that could well be in violation of copyright.

Riccitiello insists that "most" of Unity's AI tech is being trained on internal work but it will be incorporated assets from Weta Digital – which it acquired back in 2021 – in the future.

The exec said that there is “a heavy focus on making sure we do this in a way that is respectable,” adding that “there's going to be legal stuff that comes up, and the landscape's going to change really dramatically.”