Square Enix’s president has stated in a public New Year’s letter that the company will be aggressive in pursuing the potential of artificial intelligence and will continue investing in blockchain. Takashi Kiryu, the Square Enix Holdings president, dedicated several paragraphs of the letter, published on Jan. 1 on the company’s website, to future efforts in AI.
In the letter, Square Enix’s top executive highlighted extended reality, virtual reality, and augmented reality content before bringing up AI. “I believe that generative AI has the potential not only to reshape what we create, but also to fundamentally change the processes by which we create, including programming," Kiryu said.
The letter goes on to explain that Square Enix will be pursuing the use of AI in its products. “We also intend to be aggressive in applying AI and other cutting-edge technologies to both our content development and our publishing functions," Kiryu said. "In the short term, our goal will be to enhance our development productivity and achieve greater sophistication in our marketing efforts. In the longer term, we hope to leverage those technologies to create new forms of content for consumers, as we believe that technological innovation represents business opportunities.”
This statement could cause controversy due to the general public's perception of AI and the use of generative AI in content creation. Generative AI typically relies on external input to train it. This can take the form of “scraping” the internet and has led to accusations that the use of AI is stealing.
In more extreme examples, this has even led to legal proceedings. For example, a Dec. 27 lawsuit filing of the New York Times Company vs. Microsoft Corporation alleges Microsoft and Open AI’s use of AI models effectively amounts to copyright infringement.
It’s also not the first time a Square Enix president has courted controversy in their choice of technology to endorse in a New Year’s Letter. Kiryu’s predecessor, Yosuke Matsuda, was criticized by many for his statements about utilizing blockchain, NFTs, and Web 3.0 technology in last year’s letter from the president.
For his part, Kiryu also repeated Square Enix’s now long-held mantra on the potential of Web 3.0 technology, explaining that it’s a continuing field for investment. “In terms of new business domains, we previously identified three focus investment fields, namely blockchain entertainment/Web 3.0, AI, and the cloud.” He continued, stating Square Enix is “currently working to modify our organizational structure and optimize our resource allocations to support these efforts.”
Square Enix, the publisher of Final Fantasy XIV, the Final Fantasy franchise, and hundreds of other titles, is one of the largest game publishers and developers in Japan, if not the world. With this letter, the company is sending a clear message: It’s sticking with blockchain and expanding into AI. What’s more, the company is restructuring to better facilitate its use around these sometimes controversial technologies. For the passionate fan base of Square Enix’s games, this commitment may not be seen as a good thing. The full letter can be read on Square Enix’s official website.
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