Pokémon Go Data Used to Train Military Drone AI

Niantic Spatial, Niantic's spatial data division, signed a contract with defense contractor Vantor to supply data for training spatial AI models for navigation systems in military drones operating in battlefield environments where GPS signals are blocked.

Key details are as follows:

• Data Source: Over 30 billion 3D scans (of public spaces, parks, buildings, etc.) submitted by Pokémon Go players since 2021 to earn in-game rewards were utilized.
• Technical Use: The data was used to train Neural Networks capable of mapping physical terrain, enhancing the spatial awareness capabilities of autonomous drones.
• Controversy: Niantic stated that it obtained user consent for data sharing under its Terms of Service (ToS), but privacy advocates criticize this as a serious erosion of user trust.
• Corporate Stance: Vantor denied directly using the raw game data, but did not disclose whether Niantic's spatial database was included in the model's pre-training process.