Sony Group Corporation and its PlayStation division have outlined an AI strategy built on the principle that human creativity must anchor every application of the technology, with both companies’ chief executives pointing to proprietary tools and measurable commercial returns already reshaping their respective operations.
Speaking at Sony’s corporate strategy and earnings presentation Friday, Sony Group president and CEO Totoki Hiroki framed the company’s position on AI in direct terms. “Human creativity must remain at the center,” Totoki said. “AI is a powerful tool, but is not a replacement for artists or creators. It is an amplifier of human imagination and catalyst for new possibilities.”
Totoki said AI’s impact on entertainment extends beyond efficiency gains to enabling projects that were previously out of reach due to cost and time constraints. Sony Pictures has invested more than $50 million in AI capabilities spanning production planning, content protection, enterprise productivity, data analytics, innovation and 3D conversion. Sony Music, meanwhile, is pursuing an industry-wide standard to label AI-generated content, aiming to increase transparency with consumers, while also working with licensing partners to ensure intellectual property rights are honored.
Sony is also running a collaborative pilot with Bandai Namco Holdings to explore how generative AI can best serve creators in video production. Through that initiative, Totoki said the company has identified substantial speed and productivity gains per person, while also surfacing shortcomings in current models – particularly around consistency and controllability. Sony has developed know-how for addressing those limitations using fine-tuned models built on proprietary data, enabling reliable output in intended styles at the cost levels required for wide deployment.
Totoki then handed off to Nishino Hideaki, president and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, to address how AI is reshaping PlayStation specifically. “Our goal is always to be the best place to play and the best place to publish,” Nishino said. “We see AI as a powerful tool to help us in this mission.”
Nishino described a broad internal push at PlayStation’s first-party studios, where developers are automating repetitive workflows, improving software engineering productivity and accelerating quality assurance, 3D modeling and animation. Among the tools in use is one called Mockingbird, which generates facial animations from performance capture data in a fraction of the time previously required. Teams at Naughty Dog and San Diego Studio have adopted the tool, including on released titles. A separate AI-driven hair animation tool converts video footage of real hairstyles into strand-level 3D models, dramatically reducing what had been a labor-intensive process.
On the platform side, Nishino said AI-powered payment routing tools have generated more than $700 million in incremental revenue over the past few years by directing transactions more efficiently across payment networks. He said Sony is building on that foundation with further machine-learning projects aimed at personalization – systems that will eventually recommend not just the next game a player might enjoy, but the next gameplay moment, subscription, accessory or merchandise tied to their interests.
AI is also driving visual fidelity improvements on hardware. PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution, available on the PS5 Pro, uses machine learning to deliver 4K visuals at high frame rates, with titles such as “Saros” and “Ghost of Yotei” among those benefiting from the technology.
Nishino said the increasing volume of content expected to enter the market as AI lowers development barriers will make the platform’s curation and recommendation role more critical, with Sony’s owned IP and studio franchises serving as a key differentiator when players have more choices than ever. “The vision, the design and the emotional impact of our games will always come from the talent of our studios and performers,” he said. “AI is meant to augment their capabilities, not to replace them.”
Sony’s optimism around AI comes against a backdrop of compounding external pressures. Totoki flagged a current memory shortage – driven by surging AI infrastructure demand – as an issue rippling across gaming, smartphones, laptops and memory cards. He said PlayStation’s hardware business expects to contain the cost impact within the current fiscal year through ongoing supplier negotiations, while Sony’s imaging and sensing segment is seeing its high-end customer base hold firm even as the volume-driven low-end smartphone market feels the squeeze.
Geopolitical uncertainty adds a further layer of complexity. “We are navigating a period of geopolitical complexity that presents us with new challenges and uncertainty across market partnerships and supply chains,” Totoki said, citing unrest in the Middle East and shifting tariff pressures. “Adaptability will be crucially important. We cannot rely on assumptions that have supported us in the past.”
variety.com
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