Microsoft’s new gaming CEO vows not to flood the ecosystem with ‘endless AI’

Microsoft announced a major change in gaming on Friday, with Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer leaving the company, along with Xbox head Sarah Bond.

Spencer will be replaced by former Instacart and Meta CEO Asha Sharma. With Sharma’s recent role as head of Microsoft’s CoreAI product, these moves suggest that Microsoft may be doubling down on its efforts in bringing AI to video games.

The company has already been experimenting with ways to combine AI with gaming, for example developing an AI gaming companion and releasing an AI-generated buggy level from the game “Quake II.”

In fact, in an internal memo published by The Verge, Sharma wrote that Microsoft “will invent new business models and new ways to play,” and said that “monetization and artificial intelligence” will “evolve and influence this future.” At the same time, she said the company “will not seek short-term efficiency or flood our ecosystem with soulless AI.”

“Games are and always will be art, shaped by humans, and created using the most innovative technology we have to offer,” Sharma added.

This is just one of three “commitments” Sharma made in her memo. Others include building “great games that players love” and prioritizing Xbox hardware.