Key facts
- Niantic's AI models, trained on Pokémon Go user location data, will assist military drones in navigating without GPS.
- The partnership with Vantor aims to address GPS unavailability, spoofing, interference, and jamming in operational environments.
- Data was collected from users who opted into scanning real-world locations for in-game rewards.
- Privacy advocates expressed concern over the use of civilian data for military applications, citing potential user exploitation.
- This case highlights the broader trend of data collected from consumer apps being repurposed for other uses.
An artificial intelligence model trained on location data collected from users of the augmented reality game Pokémon Go is set to assist military drones in navigating war zones where GPS signals are unreliable. Niantic, the game's creator, confirmed a partnership with Vantor, a company that develops spatial detection software for drones, including those used by the military.
The collaboration aims to address critical vulnerabilities such as GPS unavailability, spoofing, interference, and jamming, which can impair the situational awareness and coordination of autonomous systems and field teams. Vantor's chief product officer, Peter Wilczynski, emphasized the advantage of rapidly upgrading systems with new hardware, suggesting that software advancements might lag.
Niantic stated that the location scans, collected from players who voluntarily opted into a feature requiring them to scan real-world locations for in-game rewards, were used to train Niantic's foundational AI models. These scans were not directly provided to Vantor. Privacy advocates, however, have voiced concerns about the use of civilian data for military applications, arguing that users may not fully understand the implications of terms of service when playing games.
Dr. Rob Nicholls, a senior researcher at the University of Sydney's centre for AI, trust and governance, suggested that this case is indicative of a larger trend where data from consumer applications is repurposed for various other uses, citing previous instances of fitness app data being used to identify military facilities. Vantor had previously announced a deal with the U.S. Army for training software, and Niantic sold its gaming division to Saudi Arabia-owned Scopely for $3.5 billion in 2025.