Saber denies replacing Rideshare Stimulator writers with AI, but confirms AI use in one mode

A dispute has emerged over the role of artificial intelligence in the development of Rideshare "Stimulator," a driving simulation game built by Unigine and announced by Saber last month.

Former lead writer Stella Sacco said on Bluesky that Saber replaced her with ChatGPT partway through development, and claimed that all passenger voices in the game were also AI-generated. She suggested the company either changed its approach during development or simply isn't disclosing AI use on the game's Steam page, which currently contains no such disclosure.

Saber's response

Saber CEO Matthew Karch told The Verge that neither Saber nor Unigine replaced any writers with AI. He explained that the game will include an experimental free-ride mode that relies on AI out of necessity, since the number of passengers in that mode is effectively infinite. Karch said Saber has used AI tools to enhance gameplay and NPC behavior since the studio's founding in 2001, and noted that while the industry has been contracting, Saber continues hiring, with none of its more than 3,000 employees at risk of being replaced by AI.

Responding to the statement, Sacco argued that the company can't simultaneously claim writers wrote the story and that AI generated the text. She said that if both her writing and AI-written or AI-planned rides appear in the game, then AI was indeed used and her work was in fact displaced — just as she says Saber told her back in December 2023.