AI systems reached superhuman performance in 2 player, zero-sum games (where one player wins, the other loses) such as Chess, Checkers, Go, and two-player poker. Now, an AI called Pluribus is capable of defeating elite poker players in 6 player, no-limit Texas Hold'em Poker, the most common game format. Poker elegantly captures the challenges of hidden information games. There are too many decision points to navigate individually, so, some actions are disregarded, and similar decisions are bucketed together in a simplification process called abstraction. AI systems that win in zero-sum games approximate the Nash equilibrium strategies and generate moves accordingly.

During one experiment, the poker bot Pluribus played against five professional players. During one experiment, the poker bot Pluribus played against five professional players. In artificial intelligence, it's a milestone when a computer program can beat top players at a game like chess. But a game like poker, specifically six-player Texas Hold'em, has been too tough for a machine to master -- until now. Researchers say they have designed a bot called Pluribus capable of taking on poker professionals in the most popular form of poker and winning.