Subj : Google's Gemini AI Is now a Pokmon Master To : All From : TechnologyDaily Date : Mon May 05 2025 20:15:08 Google's Gemini AI Is now a Pokmon Master Date: Mon, 05 May 2025 19:00:00 +0000 Description: Googles Gemini AI just beat Pokmon Blue in a fan-led livestream. FULL STORY ======================================================================Googles Gemini 2.5 Pro has officially completed Pokmon Blue The game ran as a livestream experiment by an independent engineer Gemini played the game with some light developer intervention, but mostly on its own Google's Gemini AI may not have passed the Turing test yet, but it would be very popular in the schoolyard three decades ago after winning a game of Pokmon Blue. The Gemini 2.5 Pro is now both Google's most advanced AI model and a Pokmon Master, as demonstrated in a Twitch livestream called Gemini Plays Pokmon run by an engineer unaffiliated with Google named Joel Z. Even Google CEO Sundar Pichai joined the celebration, sharing a clip of the victory on X. What a finish! Gemini 2.5 Pro just completed Pokmon Blue! Special thanks to @TheCodeOfJoel for creating and running the livestream, and to everyone who cheered Gem on along the way. pic.twitter.com/E2pn3tpfEb May 3, 2025 You might wonder why an AI model beating a thirty-year-old game drew so much attention. It's partly because of the spectacle, but also because of AI model rivalry. Back in February, Anthropic showcased the progress its Claude model was making in beating Pokmon Red. They used the game to show off Claudes extended thinking and agent training and launched a Claude Plays Pokmon Twitch stream, inspiring Joel Z. Before crowning Gemini as the one true AI Ash Ketchum, its worth noting a few caveats. For one, Claude hasnt technically beaten Pokmon Red yet, but that doesnt automatically make Gemini better, as they employed different tools, known as agent harnesses. The models dont play the game directly like a human with a controller would. Instead, theyre fed screenshots of the game environment along with overlays of key information, then asked to generate the next best action. That decision is then translated into an actual button press in the game. And Gemini hasnt been going it entirely alone. Joel admitted he occasionally stepped in to make improvements, though he has made a point of doing so only to improve some of Gemini's reasoning. He also plans to continue working on the Gemini Plays Pokmon project to make further improvements. Pokmon AI (Image credit: Sundar Pichai/X) What makes this more than a quirky internet stunt is what it implies about where AI is headed. Playing a game like Pokmon Blue isnt about fast reflexes or memorizing controller inputs. Its about long-term strategy, adapting to surprises, and navigating ambiguous challenges. These are all areas where AI usually needs improvement. That Gemini could not only hold its own but finish the game (with minimal nudging) suggests that models like it are getting better at extended strategy. It's also the kind of milestone the average person can understand. You can intuitively understand what the AI is doing when bumbling through Lavender Town or misreading a battle tactic, and compare it to the choices you'd make in that context. Of course, you shouldn't overstate what this means. AI can now finish a game you probably beat in middle school, but it also highlights how much human effort still goes into making AI seem autonomous. Whether or not Claude or Gemini become true Pokmasters doesn't matter so much as what they're playing means for AI's development. Showing that AI won't just crunch numbers or generate spam emails could change how people think of what AI can do, even with help. And if this is how AI models start learning how to operate in unpredictable, open-ended environments, well, beating Mewtwo might just be a stepping stone to something a lot more profound. Or at least, a bit more productive. You might also like AI video tool recreates Super Mario Bros. but it's so glitchy Google Gemini could soon get a super-useful 'Power up' button here's what it does Virtual versions of 11,000 real college football players are taking the field for EA's 'College Football 25' ====================================================================== Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/computing/artificial-intelligence/googles-gemini-ai- is-now-a-pokemon-master --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 (Linux/64) * Origin: tqwNet Technology News (1337:1/100) .