Pokémon Go data was used to help train AI systems being developed for military drones

A Pikachu character walks across the field after posing for pictures with fans during the in-person Pokemon GO Tour: Kalos Los Angeles 2026 event at the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, California on February 20, 2026. Pokemon fans around the world continue to engage with the media franchise in various formats including video games, trading cards, animated series, and movies ahead of the 30th anniversary of Pokémon next week. (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon / AFP via Getty Images).

Remember Pokémon Go, the game that had millions of people running all over the world to find and capture Pokémon on their mobile devices? It was big—so big that Saudi Arabia's Savvy Games Group bought the game division of developer Niantic for $3.5 billion in 2025—and even though it's not at the forefront of the public consciousness the way it used to be, it's apparently still very popular. And also, well, it's being used to train war machines.

In 2020, Niantic announced new "AR Mapping tasks" for Pokémon Go, and then in 2021 it rolled out Powered-Up PokeStops, which enabled players to team up "to complete AR Mapping tasks and create exciting new AR experiences for Trainers worldwide, simply by using your smart device to scan real-world PokéStop locations."