{"id":284261,"date":"2026-01-14T17:28:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T17:28:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/284261\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T17:28:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T17:28:08","slug":"games-workshop-rejects-the-abominable-intelligence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/284261\/","title":{"rendered":"Games Workshop Rejects the Abominable Intelligence"},"content":{"rendered":"

As generative AI use continues to enmesh itself deeper and deeper<\/a> into the entertainment industry, one titan is putting a power-armored foot down<\/a> and saying no.<\/p>\n

During the release of its half-year sales report, Games Workshop revealed that, seemingly unlike most other companies seeking to run into the open maw<\/a> of AI slop, it was taking what it described as a \u201cvery cautious\u201d approach to the technology by banning its use in any stage of the design process of its art and sculpture work for its wildly successful range of Warhammer tabletop miniatures.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do have a few senior managers that are [experts in AI]: none are that excited about it yet,\u201d chief executive Kevin Rountree said while presenting the report (via Financial Times<\/a>), which saw revenue for the six months leading to the end of November 2025 almost $44 million higher compared with the same period in 2024, despite a reduction in licensing profit (we\u2019re still waiting for three new major Warhammer video games, including\u00a0Total War: Warhammer 40K,\u00a0Dawn of War IV<\/a>, and a new sequel<\/a> to Space Marine) and accounting for an approximately $16 million hit due to new US tariffs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have agreed on an internal policy to guide us all, which is currently very cautious, e.g., we do not allow AI-generated content or AI to be used in our design processes or its unauthorized use outside of GW, including in any of our competitions,\u201d Rountree continued (via IGN<\/a>). \u201cWe also have to monitor and protect ourselves from a data compliance, security, and governance perspective, as the AI or machine learning engines seem to be automatically included on our phones or laptops whether we like it or not.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a fitting move, given the lore of\u00a0Warhammer 40,000. Although there are factions of the Imperium of Man<\/a> that prescribe faith to technology, such as the Adeptus Mechanicus\u2019 belief in the Omnissiah, a machine god believed to divinely empower all technology used by the Imperium, artificial intelligence itself, known as the Silica Animus, is treated as heresy and expressly forbidden by Imperial Law.<\/p>\n

Although Games Workshop itself isn\u2019t exactly declaring total tech heresy yet\u2014it will allow some senior management to be \u201cinquisitive\u201d about the technology\u2014the ban coincides with what Rountree described as \u201ca strong commitment to protect our intellectual property and respect our human creators.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the period reported, we continued to invest in our Warhammer Studio\u2014hiring more creatives in multiple disciplines from concepting and art to writing and sculpting. Talented and passionate individuals that make Warhammer the rich, evocative IP that our hobbyists and we all love,\u201d Rountree concluded.<\/p>\n

\n

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel<\/a>, Star Wars<\/a>, and Star Trek<\/a> releases, what\u2019s next for the DC Universe on film and TV<\/a>, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As generative AI use continues to enmesh itself deeper and deeper into the entertainment industry, one titan is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":284262,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[261],"tags":[291,289,290,18,45286,5568,19,17,82,142811],"class_list":{"0":"post-284261","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-artificial-intelligence","8":"tag-ai","9":"tag-artificial-intelligence","10":"tag-artificialintelligence","11":"tag-eire","12":"tag-games-workshop","13":"tag-generative-ai","14":"tag-ie","15":"tag-ireland","16":"tag-technology","17":"tag-warhammer"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115894635863090149","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284261","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=284261"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284261\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/284262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=284261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=284261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=284261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}