DeepMind, Blizzard Entertainment Join Hands To Test AI's Mettle Against 'StarCraft II'

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.