In its quest to advance artificial intelligence research, Google's DeepMind has created systems capable of mastering a range of Atari computer games, and besting humans at the ancient Chinese board game Go. Now, the company is seeking to overcome an even bigger challenge -- creating an AI system that can play, and perhaps master, "StarCraft II." The company announced Thursday that it was teaming up with Blizzard Entertainment -- the maker of the real-time strategy game -- to open up "StarCraft II" to AI and machine learning researchers around the world. This means that anyone with the inclination and skills to do so can test and train their AI systems using StarCraft's complex gaming environment. "DeepMind is on a scientific mission to push the boundaries of AI, developing programs that can learn to solve any complex problem without needing to be told how. Games are the perfect environment in which to do this, allowing us to develop and test smarter, more flexible AI algorithms quickly and efficiently, and also providing instant feedback on how we're doing through scores," the company said in a statement.

Google's DeepMind is teaming up with Blizzard Entertainment Inc. to open up the world of the game StarCraft II to artificial intelligence researchers. DeepMind Staff Research Scientist Oriol Vinyals (above) announced the new partnership today during Blizzcon, Blizzard's annual convention held in Anaheim, Calif. According to Vinyals, who is himself a longtime StarCraft player, Blizzard will be releasing a StarCraft II application programming interface early next year that will allow researchers to build and train AI agents to play the game. "For StarCraft players like myself, advances in AI could deal some drastic benefits," Vialys said. "For example, we might see more interesting AI opponents for a variety of skill levels or AI coaches that can help players improve. And there's still a long way to go, but maybe we'll even see an agent take on the Blizzcon champion in a show match."

After its success at mastering the ancient Asian boardgame of Go, DeepMind is planning to learn its next game – and it's about as different as it can possibly be. The London-based AI research firm, a subsidiary of Google, is teaming up with Californian gaming company Blizzard to take on the real-time strategy game StarCraft II. One of the most popular eSports in the world, StarCraft II meets many of the requirements for an interesting challenge for DeepMind to take on. Not only do the game's best players easily beat the top AI opponents, but it also introduces new domains for the DeepMind team to explore. Most importantly, StarCraft II is a game full of hidden information.

Researchers at Google's DeepMind AI company are teaming up with Blizzard Entertainment to release an API tailored for AI research environments based in StarCraft II. The company plans to make the interface available to AI researchers and developers next year. Blizzard's release of the API will open the field for programmers to create and train their own AI agents to play StarCraft II. According to DeepMind's Oriol Vinyals, research like this could lead to more interesting AI opponents in video games or AI coaches that help players enhance their own skills. Opponents in StarCraft II make quick decisions, have limited knowledge of the map, and make moves simultaneously.

Inspired by Google DeepMind's success with the creation of AlphaGo earlier this year -- an AI machine capable of playing the ancient game Go to an expert level -- Blizzard is looking to expand the player base for its real-time strategy (RTS) game, StarCraft 2. Blizzard Entertainment president Mike Morhaime announced during BlizzCon 2016's keynote presentation that the company is teaming up with DeepMind to make StarCraft 2 available to some of the most advanced AI players. The goal is to test the limits of modern artificial intelligence by seeing if it can learn to play a complex game that takes quick thinking like StarCraft 2. StarCraft 2 is both visually challenging, oftentimes leaving players without the ability to see what their opponents are doing, and relies heavily on cunning gameplay. Allowing AI machines the ability to try and learn to play -- and master -- the game will be the next step in seeing if artificial intelligence can mirror human intelligence. Researchers interested in using the RTS game to test how AI responds to it will be able to do so early next year. Blizzard is working on modifications for the game that will allow researchers to build systems specifically for the purpose of learning to play StarCraft 2. Those modifications are expected to be ready for release sometime within the first quarter.

Google's Deepmind AI has already learned how to best humans at Go, but now Deepmind's resources will be pointed at an entirely different game: Starcraft II. Blizzard just announced at Blizzcon that it is partnering with Google to open up Starcraft II as a research platform for those building AI programmers. "Blizzard will release an API early next year that will allow researchers and hobbyists around the world to build and train their own AI agents to play Starcraft II," said Oriol Vinyals, a research scientist at Google DeepMind. Rather than Google building an unstoppable Starcraft II machine on its own, Blizzard wants to give anyone the change to build their own AI bot using the upcoming API. Essentially, this framework serves as a testing ground for building and training new AIs -- it could lead to better AI in Starcraft II itself, or we could see better AI player coaches, or maybe just an unbeatable AI bot. "There's still a long way to go, but maybe we'll even see an agent take on the BlizzCon champion in a show match," Vinyals said.

Google's DeepMind AI unit, which earlier this year achieved a breakthrough in computer intelligence by creating software that beat the world's best human player at the strategy game Go, is turning its attention to the sci-fi video game Starcraft II. The company said it had reached a deal with Blizzard Entertainment Inc., the Irvine, California-based division of Activision Blizzard, which makes the Starcraft game series, to create an interface to let artificial intelligence researchers connect machine-learning software to the game. London-based DeepMind, which Google purchased in 2014, has not said it has created software that can play Starcraft expertly -- at least not yet. "We're still a long way from being able to challenge a professional human player," DeepMind research scientist Oriol Vinyals said in a blog post Friday. But the company's announcement shows it's looking seriously at Starcraft as a candidate for a breakthrough in machine intelligence.

It's been about a year since StarCraft II officially wrapped up, with the third part of the trilogy releasing last November. But Blizzard's been dribbling out a series of mini campaigns since then, dubbed Nova Covert Ops. If you've been waiting for the conclusion, Blizzard confirmed the third and final set of missions will be out within the next month. The game will also be receiving a new co-op commander, Alexei Stukov (pictured above). Blizzard also brought a member of DeepMind out on stage to talk about the company opening StarCraft II up to AI researchers. "Maybe we'll even see an agent take on the BlizzCon champion in a match," he said, discussing the future.

Amazon, Google, Facebook, IBM, and Microsoft have announced they are forming a non-for-profit organisation to educate the public about artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, as well as alleviate anxieties around its application. The collective, which includes Google's AI subsidiary DeepMind, also plans to develop best practices on the challenges and opportunities within the field of AI. The organisation, called Partnership on Artificial Intelligence to Benefit People and Society (Partnership on AI), will address legal and ethical challenges that AI presents, encourage public discourse, and identify opportunities to use AI to bring improvements to society. The organisation does not intend to be a regulatory body, with a statement saying it does "not intend to lobby government or other policymaking bodies." Members of the Partnership on AI will conduct research, recommend best practices, and publish research under an open license in areas such as ethics, fairness, and inclusivity; transparency, privacy, and interoperability; collaboration between people and AI systems; and the trustworthiness, reliability, and robustness of the technology.

Until recently, [Europe's] contribution to the innovation and commercialisation of machine intelligence technologies has been under-appreciated. We now see growing self-confidence borne of the success, and continued presence, of local acquired startups like VocalIQ, Swiftkey, Deepmind, Magic Pony Technology, and PredictionIO. London is Europe's startup centre, mixing capital, proximity to markets, and world-class research hubs.