Gaming
AI in games, poker bots, esports, sport analytics and the science of play

AI aces trivia but fumbles riddles: the puzzle tests that expose what machines still can't do
From mental rotation to river-crossing logic, a new set of benchmarks shows where AI trips over problems any sharp human can crack, and where it beats us cold.

Amazon and Twitch Hit With Class-Action Lawsuit Over Using Streamers' Videos to Train AI
A Connecticut streamer is leading a lawsuit on behalf of millions of Twitch broadcasters who say Amazon fed their live videos into AI training systems without asking first.

Google DeepMind teams up with EVE Online maker to test AI that plays like a person
The lab behind AlphaGo wants game characters that actually understand what's happening on screen. Its new partner? The studio running a 22-year-old space universe.

Meta's Pocket App Lets Anyone Build a Phone Game With a Text Prompt. It Just Opened to All US Users.
Meta's experimental app turns a plain-English description into a playable, shareable mobile game in seconds. No coding needed, and the games respond to touch and phone tilt.

The new poker professional is being trained mid-hand, not after it
Study software used to grade a session once it was over. A newer class of tool sits at the table while the hand is still live, and it is changing what a serious player practises.

Google signs five of football's biggest clubs to put Gemini and Pixel in every fan's pocket
Arsenal, Barcelona, Bayern, Liverpool and PSG have signed multi-year deals making Gemini their official AI assistant and Pixel their official phone, with equal billing for the women's teams.

Game Studio Says It Didn't Replace Its Writer With ChatGPT. The Writer Says Otherwise.
Saber Interactive claims no writers were swapped for AI on its new driving game. The lead writer who was let go disagrees, and the studio's own statement appears to undercut its denial.

This horror game makes you argue with an AI that thinks it's alive
Prove You're Human flips the Captcha on its head: you are the human, but the machine is not convinced.

ESPN Used an AI Tool to Detect Poker Tells at the 2026 World Series of Poker. Pros Are Not Impressed.
A camera-based AI system tried to read players' bluffs and strong hands in real time during one of poker's biggest tournaments. The pros who were actually at the table say the data just isn't there yet.

Fantasy Premier League Gets an AI Companion to Help You Pick Your Squad
Microsoft's new FPL Companion tool answers your team questions, surfaces player stats, and updates in real time, but it will not pick your team for you.

SEGA and NVIDIA Mark 30 Years Together With a New Virtua Fighter and a New Chip
The two companies are reviving one of gaming's oldest 3D fighting franchises on a fresh line of AI-capable laptop chips, announced from the Tokyo arcade where it all began.

Roblox Lets Anyone Build a Video Game by Typing a Sentence
A new mobile feature called Build turns a plain-text description into a playable game. No coding required. Here is what it does, what it cannot, and why some developers are worried.

D-topia is a cosy puzzle game about an AI that wants to make everyone happy. It asks whether that is enough.
A new indie game from Japanese studio Marumittu Games wraps a serious question about AI and human happiness inside a gentle daily routine. It is more interesting than that sounds.

An AI 'actor' is getting her own feature film. Does that make you want to watch it?
Particle6's digital creation Tilly Norwood is headlining a movie called Misaligned. The project raises a question the press releases won't answer: what does human storytelling mean when the lead character has never been human?