Google Uses StarCraft II Game as Testing Platform for AI

Google's DeepMind has been making use of Blizzard's StarCraft II Game as a testing platform for AI as well as important machine learning research. It's not just Google that can benefit from this platform either; it's open to anyone who wants to make use of it and is available worldwide. The company commented, "We've worked closely with the StarCraft II team to develop an API that supports something similar to previous bots written with a'scripted' interface, allowing programmatic control of individual units and access to the full game state (with some new options as well)." The two companies are still working together now, this time creating "curriculum scenarios." These are tasks that get more difficult as they are completed and are designed to allow AI researchers to get the system up and running, benchmark algorithms, and advance.