A Valve engineer publicly described using ChatGPT like an advanced search engine to find a specific type of matching algorithm he needed for the game Deadlock. He found the Hungarian algorithm this way and it was then built into Deadlock's hero selection matchmaking system. The engineer shared this on social media in October 2024.

Valve engineer Fletcher Dunn posted publicly that he used ChatGPT to search for a bipartite matching algorithm — a type of problem-solving method that assigns players or items to slots based on preference scores. He described the value of the tool as helping him find technical concepts he did not already know the name for, using it as a way to search by description rather than by keyword. The Hungarian algorithm he discovered through this process was implemented in Deadlock's matchmaking within days. Dunn described this as an "internal only" use of AI as a research tool, consistent with Valve's January 2026 policy update that explicitly excludes AI-powered development tools from Steam's disclosure requirements. This is the only confirmed case of a Valve engineer publicly disclosing the use of a large language model for internal development work.