Randy Pitchford responds to criticism after "AI slop" selfie

Randy Pitchford, the co-founder and head of developer Gearbox, has responded to criticism he received after sharing an AI-generated image on social media. Pitchford recently said he had asked ChatGPT to generate a selfie of an AI that reflects its feelings based on its interaction with him.

The selfie he received was labeled by some fans as "AI slop." One fan suggested that a real photo, taken by a Gearbox employee, might have been better received. Pitchford replied that the fan was missing the point. He wanted the AI to create an image of how it perceives itself, not of Pitchford himself, as part of the developer’s effort to highlight the "absurdity of the idea of an AI with an identity."

Pitchford explains his motives

Pitchford further clarified that he mainly uses ChatGPT as a search engine and had recently tried out its image generation feature. His specific prompt was: "Make a photo of yourself as if you worked at my company, Gearbox Software." He said he was curious what kind of nonsense the AI would generate as a concept of self-identity, since he considers the idea of an AI with an identity to be nonsense.

He found the resulting selfie "more embarrassing and hilarious" than he expected, which led him to share it. Pitchford added that ChatGPT has "no information" about him based on his work, because he does not use AI for work purposes. He experiments with AI on his personal devices, which are not connected to his work computers.

Gearbox’s policy on AI

Pitchford said Gearbox’s policy on AI states that "no AI in any work that can be seen by customers" may be used. At the same time, he noted that some members of the Borderlands community speculated that recently released patch notes appeared to have been written with AI. Pitchford responded by saying that the timing or content of those notes has nothing to do with the concerns users have about patch notes.

Connection to Take-Two and future plans

Gearbox is a subsidiary of Take-Two, which has been implementing AI systems in its operations to improve efficiency in non-creative areas. Strauss Zelnick, Take-Two’s CEO, has also pushed back against the idea that advances in AI will lead to job losses. The data shows that Take-Two has expanded its workforce in recent years.

Zelnick has also stressed that generative AI "is not part of GTA 6," despite AI systems being used within the company. He called it "ridiculous" to think developers will be able to use generative AI to create good games that people actually want to play.

Borderlands franchise and expectations

Borderlands 4, the latest entry in the series, launched in 2025 and had a disappointing sales start, despite helping set franchise sales records in the US. However, Zelnick remains optimistic and expects Borderlands 4 to perform "great" over time as sales continue to grow.