Sony Develops Toughest AI Opponent Ever for New Gran Turismo Game

(Bloomberg) -- Sony Group Corp. says it has trained a champion capable of beating the world’s best racers at Gran Turismo -- only the player is an artificial intelligence agent.

The Gran Turismo Sophy project used more than 1,000 PlayStation 4 consoles to train an AI bot that Sony claims is smart enough to adopt optimal racing lines and takeover maneuvers while also respecting other racers and the etiquette of competition. The company’s AI group, founded in 2020, has submitted its research to be published in the Nature science journal.

The project was driven in part to provide a more stimulating opponent for players, with competitive esport racers expressing excitement after competing (and losing) against Sophy. In an exhibition race broadcast during a media event, a Sophy bot beat out four top human drivers to take the checkered flag.

“I feel frustrated, that never happened before battling with an AI,” Tomoaki Yamanaka, one of the racers, said. “I drove like I would drive against a human. That’s a really amazing thing.”

The concept of AI is a familiar one in video games, however it has typically been implemented via preprogrammed agents that enjoy artificial advantages. Winning without such perks requires the bot to make decisions in real time while sharing the track and reacting to the actions of several opponents.

AI players have trumped their human counterparts in real-world games like chess and Go as well as virtual contests like multiplayer battle title Dota 2, the latter led by the Microsoft Corp.-backed OpenAI. Sony’s long-term goal for developing such AI models is to deepen the immersion and realism of experiences it offers to users.

The Japanese company is exploring integrating the Sophy AI into future releases of its racing series. Gran Turismo 7 is due to launch next month on the PlayStation 4 and 5.

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.