Pokémon Go data trained AI that could assist military drones in war zones

The Guardian UK Friday 12 June 2026, 07:06 UTC By Josh Taylor Technology reporter 1 min read

Key Points

Location scans from the globally popular augmented reality game have helped train AI to recognise and interpret physical spacesAn AI model trained on data collected from users of Pokémon Go will potentially help military drones find their location in war zones. Pokémon Go, a 2016 augmented reality mobile game, allowed players to find and catch Pokémon in the real world using the cameras on their mobile phones, and exploded in popularity. In 2018, the company reported having more than 800m...

Location scans from the globally popular augmented reality game have helped train AI to recognise and interpret physical spaces

An AI model trained on data collected from users of Pokémon Go will potentially help military drones find their location in war zones.

Pokémon Go, a 2016 augmented reality mobile game, allowed players to find and catch Pokémon in the real world using the cameras on their mobile phones, and exploded in popularity. In 2018, the company reported having more than 800m downloads worldwide.

Pokémon Go (ORG) AI (ORG) Location (ORG) Pokémon (ORG)

Originally published by The Guardian UK Read original →

Pokémon Go data trained AI that could assist military drones in war zones

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