Saber Interactive's CEO just turned a disclosure dispute into a public execution. After former lead writer Stella Sacco alleged she was pulled from Rideshare “Stimulator” so ChatGPT could finish the passenger dialogue and live ops, Matthew Karch responded with “Stella who?” and admitted he had to ask Claude for context because he had never met or spoken to her. He added that she was replaced by “someone more talented,” terminated months later for other reasons, and that in retrospect he “would frankly have been happy to replace her with AI” because at least it would be “programmed to be honest.”

The company maintains no writers were swapped for AI on the main campaign, which it says was handled entirely by humans, but has now confirmed generative tools for an experimental free-ride mode with infinite passengers and some voice/localization elements. That admission forced the belated addition of an AI Generated Content Disclosure on the Steam page detailing the split between human-authored story and AI-assisted procedural content. Valve’s policy requires such transparency, and community pressure on the store listing finally delivered it.

Sacco has pushed back, calling the CEO’s statements “remarkably pathetic” and arguing you cannot simultaneously claim human writers handled the story while computers generated the text. Karch’s escalation has drawn widespread online criticism for its personal attacks and tone, shifting the conversation from industry AI ethics to one company’s unforced public relations failure. The Steam disclosure now sits there as a permanent record of how the fight played out.