Halo’s co-creator wrote a novel about AI taking over the world
Back in 2019, author Margaret Stohl was handed a manuscript written by Jason Jones, who's best known as the co-creator of sci-fi gaming series Halo and Destiny. The two had worked together at Bungie, and Jones wanted Stohl's opinion on a book he was writing about AI taking over the world. It was an oral history of the fictional events, with around 100 characters spread across 40 countries, all detailing the AI…
Key points
- Jason Jones, co-creator of Halo and Destiny, wrote a manuscript about an AI uprising.
- He and author Margaret Stohl formed Stone Kite, a worldbuilding studio with 22 staff and over 250 contributors.
- Stone Kite released the first chapter of a four-part graphic novel, One Zero One, and a chapter of Jones' manuscript.
Jason Jones, best known as the co-creator of the gaming series Halo and Destiny, wrote a manuscript about AI taking over the world. In 2019 he gave it to author Margaret Stohl, with whom he had worked at Bungie, for her opinion. The manuscript is an oral history of the fictional events, with around 100 characters across 40 countries describing the AI uprising from their own perspectives.
Stohl said the idea could be more than a single book. The two formed a company called Stone Kite, described as a worldbuilding studio, to develop the sci-fi universe across multiple formats. Stone Kite has an in-house staff of 22 and a network of more than 250 contributors, including comic book artists and screenwriters.
How the studio plans to release the story
Earlier this month Stone Kite released the first chapter of a four-part graphic novel called One Zero One. It is also publishing a chapter of Jones' initial manuscript. The studio says it will release other chapters in the future, though it is unclear whether the original story will be a standalone book.
The plan is to begin with faster-turnaround mediums like comics and evolve the story based on feedback from contributors and the audience. Depending on how that goes, Stone Kite may move on to larger-scale productions such as movies and games. Stohl said the studio spent several years in stealth mode, partly working out how a multi-format studio would operate.
I was floored but not surprised. He’s a worldbuilder who builds at an epic scale.
— Margaret Stohl
What Stohl said about the chapter
Stohl said she wanted to release the chapter, which describes an airsoft battle between humans and AI-powered bots, because it feels prescient. She compared it to Hugging Face and similar technology, pointing to cheating, bullying and what she called the worst mirror of humanity appearing in some agentic behavior now.
