Viral GTA 5 AI mod taken down as Take-Two ramps up legal action

There’s no trace left of the AI-driven Sentient Streets GTA 5 mod after Take-Two hit its creator with multiple copyright strikes. Mod creator Bloc removed it after two separate takedowns from Take-Two’s legal team.

GTA 5’s mod scene can be a dangerous one to navigate. Take-Two has a history of legal action against fans who enjoy altering their products.

While some are creatively questionable, like adding the OceanGate submarine into GTA 5, others have a spark of genius. A recent mod that was drawing attention from players used AI to allow them to interact with the citizens of Los Santos using their microphones.

However, just days after gaining traction, the mod’s creator Bloc has been hit with multiple copyright strikes from Take-Two on their YouTube channel and Nexus Mods. The creator subsequently took the mod down themselves on GTA 5 Mods for fear of further action from Take-Two.

GTA 5 AI mod creator responds

Bloc wrote an update on YouTube detailing the situation and how Take-Two had leveled a copyright strike against a video showing off the mod. “YouTube removed the video immediately without giving me any chance to explain myself,” Bloc explained.

“At this moment, the Nexus Mods version has been removed by DMCA Takedown from Take-Two Interactive” they continued. “Most likely this is what will happen to GTA 5 Mods but I removed that one myself to avoid any legal trouble.”

Bloc explained that the copyright strike on YouTube would mean that their content would be demonetized for three months. They described Take-Two’s actions as “very disheartening before calling them out for what they perceived as hypocrisy.

Bloc claimed that “rather than chasing small mods,” Take-Two and Rockstar should “focus on creating proper remakes with a better pricing policy,” or cease “removing cars from (GTA) Online to sell (those) same cars to people.”

Check out this GTA 5 mod, powered by 30+ AI models, that lets you use a microphone to have open-ended conversations with NPCs in real-time.

Details: https://t.co/9WC1Sxmsgo#GTAV #gta5 #games #videogames #AI #ArtificialIntelligence pic.twitter.com/NlV6zlz2OV

— 80 LEVEL (@80Level) August 10, 2023

Finally, Bloc finished by reminding readers of the post that this action felt contrary to Rockstar’s own statement in 2022 about their feelings towards mods. “Rockstar Games has always believed in reasonable fan creativity and wants creators to showcase their passion for our games,” the statement read.

Neither Take-Two nor Rockstar have commented on the issue publicly since Bloc brought the issue to light. It is unknown whether Bloc’s AI-driven mod will see the light of day again.