Kojima Embraces AI for Prada Campaign, Drawing Backlash From Fans
Video game designer Hideo Kojima is appearing in a generative video campaign for Prada that launches at New York's Hotel Chelsea in June, sparking criticism from players who say it contradicts his own games' warnings about AI.
The collaboration with Danish filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn marks Kojima's second project with the luxury brand. A six-minute short film shows Kojima and Refn as space travelers whose UFO crashes on an alien planet, where they encounter a kaiju creature before being rescued by a telepathic woman.
The teaser video uses AI-generated imagery styled after retro exploitation films from the 1960s and 70s. Winding Refn, whose studio ByNWR runs a streaming platform for rare cult films, described the project as exploring "love, language, and creativity through the artists' enduring dialogue."
The campaign has drawn pushback online. Kojima's Metal Gear Solid series depicted algorithmic control, echo chambers, and AI-driven misinformation as threats. His games warned against over-reliance on technology and its potential use by authoritarian systems to manipulate narratives.
Fans questioned the apparent contradiction. "Have you even played your own games Kojima?" one user posted on X. "What happened to AI being corrupt [and] taking over the country."
Kojima has not publicly opposed generative AI itself. In a December interview with CNN, he said he was more interested in using AI for game mechanics than visuals. "By using AI, enemy behavior could change based on the player's experience, actions and patterns," he said. "That kind of dynamic response would make much deeper gameplay possible."
The Prada event runs June 3-7 and includes performances in guest rooms that double as micro television studios. The spaces will later reopen to the public as installations.
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