Xbox’s Graphics Development Lead, Mike Matsel, announced on LinkedIn that they were looking for new team members. The ad, targeting professionals with “experience in device drivers, GPU performance, or related engineering systems,” appeared at first glance to be a typical job opportunity. However, the image used in the ad caught the eye and quickly sparked a crisis.
Xbox Criticized for AI
The image in the ad, supposedly depicting a game development environment, was identified by many artists and designers as a product of generative AI. Obvious inconsistencies in the image sparked criticism that the ad was unprofessional:
- Incorrect shading and missing light sources,
- Mismatched and meaningless patterns,
- Missing power cables that should have run to the displays and devices,
- A computer monitor facing completely the wrong direction.
These errors were interpreted as “sloppy work” by the technically literate audience targeted by the ad.
Matsel’s post was particularly harshly criticized because it was published in the light of major layoffs in Microsoft’s gaming division. Professionals commenting on LinkedIn and other social media platforms noted the significance of the timing.
One web developer summarized the situation this way: “Just days after Xbox laid off 9,000 people, including members of its own graphics team, and rumors of spending $80 billion on AI, trying to generate visuals for a graphics team with AI is incredibly insensitive, both on Mike and Xbox.”
Earlier this month, Microsoft announced the layoff of more than 9,000 employees in its gaming division. This development coincided with news that the company would be making massive investments in AI technologies. Therefore, the use of a clearly flawed AI product instead of human labor in a job posting for creative and technical roles was perceived as “disrespectful to the fired employees.”
