ChatGPT advised exec on how to fire Subnautica founders to avoid payout, court ruling says
(2026/03/18)
- Reference: 1773862991
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2026/03/18/chatgpt_helped_exec_bilk_founders/
- Source link:
One of your studios is about to make a game that you think will be a huge hit, and you don't want to pay the contractually required bonuses. What to do? One Korean CEO turned to ChatGPT to cook up a plan to get his company out of paying up to $250 million. It went about as well as you'd expect.
By that, we mean the inevitable lawsuit we're reporting on today did not go the way that company, Kraftron, would have preferred.
You may know Kraftron as the Korean publisher that owns Unknown Worlds, the development house behind Subnautica. If so, you're probably also familiar with the kerfuffle around the development and release of Subnautica II.
[1]
Early access was supposed to begin in 2025, but Kraftron delayed it, fired the company's founders, and seized control of Unknown Worlds in a bid to get out of paying the development house as much as $250 million if high earnings forecasts for the game turned out to be correct.
[2]
[3]
All of this was done at ChatGPT's advice.
According to a Delaware Chancery Court [4]decision [PDF] this week, pretty much everything that Kraftron CEO Changhan Kim did at ChatGPT's urging in his bid to avoid that payout turned out to be a gross breach of contract.
[5]
Per the decision, ChatGPT told Kim that the earnout would be difficult to cancel, but Kim kept pushing the bot, asking it what steps to take anyway.
At ChatGPT's recommendation, Kim formed a task force with a mandate to either negotiate changes to the earnout or completely take over Unknown Worlds. ChatGPT advised that, were negotiations to fail (which they did), Kraftron should follow a specific sequence of events to ensure its success in the scheme, including preemptively controlling the public narrative by claiming that Subnautica II wasn't ready, and blaming the studio's founders.
ChatGPT also advised seizing control of distribution platforms like Steam to prevent Unknown Worlds from launching the game, and eventually firing the company's founding trio, with a made-up reason that they intended to release Subnautica II before it was ready, potentially damaging the franchise and harming earnings.
[6]
Kraftron followed the plan to a T. The Unknown Worlds founders sued for breach of contract.
During trial, Kraftron attempted to reframe the case, saying that the Unknown Worlds founders downloaded a bunch of data prior to being fired. They also argued that the founders asked to change roles to take on fewer day-to-day responsibilities, which was grounds to terminate their contract for violations of a business-as-usual clause. The judge laughed these arguments out of court.
In short, "none of Kraftron's proffered justifications have merit," Judge Lori Will said in her decision.
[7]AI finally delivers those elusive productivity gains... for cybercriminals
[8]Lawyers face judge's wrath after AI cites made-up cases in fiery hoverboard lawsuit
[9]Subnautica and Below Zero : Nurture your inner MacGyver and Kevin Costner on an ocean-planet holiday
[10]Romanian rail workers accused of bribery turned to ChatGPT for legal tips
The judge ordered Unknown Worlds founder and CEO Ted Gill reinstated and given full operational control back so as to "stabilize the studio," but declined to reinstate the other two founders, Charlie Cleveland and Max McGuire, as they had already stepped down from day-to-day operations at the studio.
"Krafton must also immediately restore to Gill all access necessary to effectuate that authority, including over the Steam publishing platform," the judge ordered.
For gamers who don't really care about the legal back and forth but just want to play the game, good news: [11]IGN says early access will finally begin in May.
There's going to be a round two of the trial in which the judge decides if Kraftron owes Unknown Worlds any money. We've reached out to both for comment and haven't heard back. ®
Get our [12]Tech Resources
[1] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2absukRgPV5-Mpv4aXk8IJwAAAoo&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44absukRgPV5-Mpv4aXk8IJwAAAoo&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33absukRgPV5-Mpv4aXk8IJwAAAoo&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://regmedia.co.uk/2026/03/18/subnautica-chat-gpt-decision.pdf
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44absukRgPV5-Mpv4aXk8IJwAAAoo&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33absukRgPV5-Mpv4aXk8IJwAAAoo&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2026/03/16/interpol_ai_fraud/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2025/02/14/attorneys_cite_cases_hallucinated_ai/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2021/01/29/subnautica/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2026/02/06/romanian_rail_workers_chatgpt/
[11] https://www.ign.com/articles/subnautica-2-will-finally-enter-early-access-in-may-following-year-of-delays-and-legal-drama
[12] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
By that, we mean the inevitable lawsuit we're reporting on today did not go the way that company, Kraftron, would have preferred.
You may know Kraftron as the Korean publisher that owns Unknown Worlds, the development house behind Subnautica. If so, you're probably also familiar with the kerfuffle around the development and release of Subnautica II.
[1]
Early access was supposed to begin in 2025, but Kraftron delayed it, fired the company's founders, and seized control of Unknown Worlds in a bid to get out of paying the development house as much as $250 million if high earnings forecasts for the game turned out to be correct.
[2]
[3]
All of this was done at ChatGPT's advice.
According to a Delaware Chancery Court [4]decision [PDF] this week, pretty much everything that Kraftron CEO Changhan Kim did at ChatGPT's urging in his bid to avoid that payout turned out to be a gross breach of contract.
[5]
Per the decision, ChatGPT told Kim that the earnout would be difficult to cancel, but Kim kept pushing the bot, asking it what steps to take anyway.
At ChatGPT's recommendation, Kim formed a task force with a mandate to either negotiate changes to the earnout or completely take over Unknown Worlds. ChatGPT advised that, were negotiations to fail (which they did), Kraftron should follow a specific sequence of events to ensure its success in the scheme, including preemptively controlling the public narrative by claiming that Subnautica II wasn't ready, and blaming the studio's founders.
ChatGPT also advised seizing control of distribution platforms like Steam to prevent Unknown Worlds from launching the game, and eventually firing the company's founding trio, with a made-up reason that they intended to release Subnautica II before it was ready, potentially damaging the franchise and harming earnings.
[6]
Kraftron followed the plan to a T. The Unknown Worlds founders sued for breach of contract.
During trial, Kraftron attempted to reframe the case, saying that the Unknown Worlds founders downloaded a bunch of data prior to being fired. They also argued that the founders asked to change roles to take on fewer day-to-day responsibilities, which was grounds to terminate their contract for violations of a business-as-usual clause. The judge laughed these arguments out of court.
In short, "none of Kraftron's proffered justifications have merit," Judge Lori Will said in her decision.
[7]AI finally delivers those elusive productivity gains... for cybercriminals
[8]Lawyers face judge's wrath after AI cites made-up cases in fiery hoverboard lawsuit
[9]Subnautica and Below Zero : Nurture your inner MacGyver and Kevin Costner on an ocean-planet holiday
[10]Romanian rail workers accused of bribery turned to ChatGPT for legal tips
The judge ordered Unknown Worlds founder and CEO Ted Gill reinstated and given full operational control back so as to "stabilize the studio," but declined to reinstate the other two founders, Charlie Cleveland and Max McGuire, as they had already stepped down from day-to-day operations at the studio.
"Krafton must also immediately restore to Gill all access necessary to effectuate that authority, including over the Steam publishing platform," the judge ordered.
For gamers who don't really care about the legal back and forth but just want to play the game, good news: [11]IGN says early access will finally begin in May.
There's going to be a round two of the trial in which the judge decides if Kraftron owes Unknown Worlds any money. We've reached out to both for comment and haven't heard back. ®
Get our [12]Tech Resources
[1] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2absukRgPV5-Mpv4aXk8IJwAAAoo&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44absukRgPV5-Mpv4aXk8IJwAAAoo&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33absukRgPV5-Mpv4aXk8IJwAAAoo&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://regmedia.co.uk/2026/03/18/subnautica-chat-gpt-decision.pdf
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44absukRgPV5-Mpv4aXk8IJwAAAoo&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33absukRgPV5-Mpv4aXk8IJwAAAoo&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2026/03/16/interpol_ai_fraud/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2025/02/14/attorneys_cite_cases_hallucinated_ai/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2021/01/29/subnautica/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2026/02/06/romanian_rail_workers_chatgpt/
[11] https://www.ign.com/articles/subnautica-2-will-finally-enter-early-access-in-may-following-year-of-delays-and-legal-drama
[12] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: Bit like Amazon
Anonymous Coward
I wonder how many Amazon employees have been running pointless or needlessly-complex queries just to increase their own system load.
...and whether the manager responsible believed Goodhart's Law was a cautionary tale or an instruction manual.
Penny pinching all round then
Anonymous Coward
ChatGPT sessions discoverable
ChatGPT initially refused but after further queries came up with a plan (at low cost)
Lawyer sessions not discoverable
Lawyer would initially refuse but may then come up with a plan (after further prompting) and would probably expect a large cut of the 250 million to carefully and professionally 'skate the edges of the law'
Not really an LLM problem, more of a cost-benefit/ethics issue
Bit like Amazon
Demanding its engineers use its own AI tools for coding and "There will be metric reports on how much you use it. If you don't use it, we'll show you the door". Something along those lines. So a developer asked it about a bug they had. It told him to wipe the main code and start a fresh, so he did. Which is why Amazon went down for several hours!
They haven't learnt from this because despite saying now that "All AI responses need to be first checked by a senior engineer" (they fired most of them). They are apparently now using another AI bot to do the checking for them.
Greedy fuck whits. Just pay humans ffs.