{"id":1604400,"date":"2026-06-12T04:30:59","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T04:30:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hEfevNfUDNof4UYKEU8MiV"},"modified":"2026-06-12T04:31:00","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T04:31:00","slug":"pokemon-go-data-was-used-to-help-train-ai-systems-being-developed-for-military-drones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/pokemon-go-data-was-used-to-help-train-ai-systems-being-developed-for-military-drones\/","title":{"rendered":"Pok\u00e9mon Go data was used to help train AI systems being developed for military drones"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Remember Pok\u00e9mon Go, the game that had millions of people running all over the world to find and capture Pok\u00e9mon on their mobile devices? It was big<\/em>\u2014so big that Saudi Arabia’s Savvy Games Group bought the game division of developer Niantic<\/a> for $3.5 billion in 2025\u2014and even though it’s not at the forefront of the public consciousness the way it used to be, it’s apparently still very popular<\/a>. And also, well, it’s being used to train war machines.<\/p>\n

In 2020, Niantic announced new “AR Mapping tasks<\/a>” for Pok\u00e9mon Go, and then in 2021 it rolled out Powered-Up PokeStops<\/a>, which enabled players to team up “to complete AR Mapping tasks and create exciting new AR experiences for Trainers worldwide, simply by using your smart device to scan real-world Pok\u00e9Stop locations.”<\/p>\n

Fun and games, right? Except as reported by DroneXL<\/a>, Niantic Spatial, which was formed when Savvy (through its Scopely division) purchased Niantic’s gaming business, launched a partnership with a company called Vantor<\/a> in December 2025 “to deliver a comprehensive air-to-ground positioning solution that will enable air and ground platforms to navigate and coordinate precisely in GPS-denied environments.” As is the way these days, that system will be dependent upon AI\u2014which is trained, in part, by Pok\u00e9mon Go data.<\/p>\n

Conventional GPS systems rely on satellites, and virtually all modern military navigation and targeting technology rely on GPS to function. A quick way to disrupt enemy operations, therefore, is to deny access to GPS functionality. That’s where Visual Positioning Systems\u2014VPS\u2014come into play: Simply put, they enable GPS-comparable navigation capabilities when GPS signals fail. That could be handy for anyone, but make no mistake: Vantor’s software is used in military drones, and that’s clearly the company’s priority.<\/p>\n

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