DLSS 5: Has Nvidia’s AI graphics technology gone too far?

Officially, Nvidia’s controversial DLSS 5 AI rendering was supposed to launch this evening with only a single game, only on Nvidia’s latest RTX 50 GPUs, and with developers in full control of their artistic vision.

But unofficially, modders have already ported a leaked version of DLSS 5 to run on just about anything while cranking sliders to the max. Now, Nvidia is changing its plans. DLSS 5 is still launching first on RTX 50 GPUs, but it’s officially coming to older RTX 40-series GPUs as well, Nvidia spokesperson Rajal Maharaj confirms to The Verge.

Nvidia knows that DLSS 5 left a bad first impression. In March, many gamers took one look at Resident Evil Requiem protagonist Grace Ashcroft’s DLSS 5-ified face and declared it AI slop. So this week, the company’s re-introducing its controversial “neural rendering” with firm messaging about how it “preserves artistic intent,” “respects the rendered frame,” and gives game developers full control.

Now, ahead of its September 3rd launch, with an official Nvidia briefing under our belt and some hands-on time with the version that leaked onto the web, we think we finally get the picture. Here’s what’s going on.

Nvidia is officially launching DLSS 5 this week, following a divisive announcement in March where we likened the AI upscaling tech to a “real-time generative AI filter for video games” and “motion smoothing for video games, but worse.” DLSS 5 will officially be available on RTX 50-series desktop and laptop GPUs and through GeForce Now cloud gaming, though the only game with the tech so far is NBA 2K27 — which is launching September 3rd at 9PM PT on PC.

When it was announced, Nvidia lauded DLSS 5 as “the company’s most significant breakthrough in computer graphics since the debut of real-time ray tracing in 2018,” and highlighted how the tech uses AI to make games look more realistic by enhancing a game based on its source content. Nvidia also stressed that DLSS 5 gave developers controls that let them decide how changes from DLSS 5 appeared in their games.

Modders are trying out an unofficial version of Nvidia’s DLSS 5 on Skyrim, Cyberpunk 2077, GTA V, and a bunch of other games after code for the AI upscaling tech appeared in an early-access build of NBA 2K27. Members of the RenoDX modding channel on Discord reportedly found a way to extract the DLSS “Neural Rendering” file and apply it to Control before it expanded to other games, as reported earlier by Notebook Check and VideoCardz.

In one video, a person shows how Control protagonist Jesse Faden’s facial features become more and less defined as they tweak various DLSS 5 settings enabled by the RenoDX modders. With the “Neural Uplift” setting disabled within the mod, Jesse’s face has a smooth, uniform look. But as soon as the modder turns this feature on with one of the presets, her face becomes paler, with more visible laugh lines and what looks like more makeup smudged beneath her eyes.

Nvidia surely thought it was doing a good thing for gamers by “upgrading” the faces of our favorite video game characters. But that just shows how much the company has lost the plot.

Nvidia could’ve marketed its new DLSS 5 real-time lighting technology as a way to make future, next-gen games look better. Instead, it told the world that games people already know and love look bad. It focused on retconning characters’ faces. And now, confronted with the predictable backlash, Nvidia’s CEO is telling critics that we’re “completely wrong.”

Yesterday Nvidia revealed its latest upscaling tech, called DLSS 5, which it described as “the company’s most significant breakthrough in computer graphics since the debut of real-time ray tracing in 2018.” Sounds good, until you actually see it. According to Nvidia, the tech “infuses pixels with photoreal lighting and materials,” but all anyone seemed to notice was that it turned recognizable faces into something resembling AI slop. Resident Evil Requiem protagonist Grace got a makeover that would make her look at home in a Tilly Norwood video. The Hogwarts Legacy kids looked like they’d been wrung through an Instagram filter. Even Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk, a very real and famous person, had his features warped and became just some other dude with DLSS 5.

This “significant breakthrough” imbues everything with a particular look that’s become synonymous with AI-generated art. It’s sort of like motion smoothing, if motion smoothing went a step further and changed people’s faces — and it’s making everything look the same.

Nvidia announced DLSS 5 on Monday during its GTC conference, and based on early reactions, it’s going to be a divisive update, with some reactions calling it “slop” that unacceptably alters artistic intent. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is calling this the “GPT moment for graphics — blending hand-crafted rendering with generative AI to deliver a dramatic leap in visual realism while preserving the control artists need for creative expression.”

In games that support DLSS 5, the tools can immediately provide noticeable boosts to lighting and shadows, but unlike previous versions of upscaling that used machine learning to close the gap between high and low graphics settings, this version applies generative AI to rework the lighting and materials with details that feel newly added. Examples shown by Nvidia today from Resident Evil Requiem, Starfield, Hogwarts Legacy, and EA Sports FC each look more lifelike, yes, but the DLSS 5 versions have changes that look similar to the “AI slop” updates we’ve seen applied to photography, video, and other creative endeavors.