🔴 Pokémon Go Players Help Train AI
Pokémon Go launched in 2016 and quickly captivated millions of users worldwide. As of December 2024, the game boasts an average of 97.5 million active players.
The augmented reality game has faced repeated accusations of secretly collecting data for the CIA. Eight years later, Niantic, the game's developer, confirmed that user data is indeed being used—but not for surveillance. Instead, it's being leveraged to train artificial intelligence.
The studio recently announced the development of a Large Geospatial Model (LGM) designed to interact with physical environments on a global scale.
"The path from LLMs to LGMs is another step in AI's evolution. As wearable devices like AR glasses become more prevalent, the world's future operating system will depend on the blending of physical and digital realities to create a system for spatial computing that will put people at the center," Niantic explained.
📍 Data Set
Niantic uses location scans submitted by players of Pokémon Go, Ingress, and other company products. Over the past five years, the studio has built a database of 10 million locations worldwide, growing by about 1 million new scans weekly.
Currently, Niantic employs a visual positioning system in its products, which can pinpoint a player's location with centimeter-level accuracy. According to the company, this system relies on over 50 million neural networks with 150 trillion parameters.
The upcoming Large Geospatial Model will be more than just a map or navigation system. It aims to navigate physical spaces and recognize and classify objects using data from across the globe.
Niantic emphasizes that all location scanning is entirely voluntary and requires explicit consent from users.
Do you play Pokémon Go?
❤️ — Yes, I love it!
👍 — I used to play.
🙈 — Nope, not interested…